RM Online - Mobile bleacher rentals are movin'

If you've ever attended a golf tournament or watched one on TV, the events at each hole are fairly similar - tee-off, drive, green and lots of spectators nomadically wandering, bleachers being moved from hole to hole. Wait! Bleachers are moved?

Incredibly, mobile bleachers are coming into their own, and the day might soon come when applications like this are commonplace. The rental industry already is experiencing more calls for mobile units for events like golf tournaments, and these kinds of events may, in fact, drive the market for bleacher and grandstand rentals in the next few years.

"With the economy in the prosperous shape it is in, the biggest increase we've seen in the last couple of years is that events are planned that require mobility and flexibility," according to Bill Orser, sales manager for Kay Park Recreation, based in Janesville, Iowa.

"This is especially keen with golf tournaments," he added. "On the PGA tour, they have such problems with the normal seating at each hole due to popular players like Tiger Woods."

Mobile bleachers could be used for, say, holes one through five, and more sets could be on hole six that are used for the next few holes. "You would just keep rolling the extra seating along. You can set up a tram that allows you to do that," Orser said.

While the scaffold-type traditional bleacher is probably the most common used by the rental industry, in the last few years there has been a greater push toward using models that have galvanized steel frames and are made of aluminum - bleachers that are functional and quick to set up.

"We definitely recommend that rental dealers take a strong look at galvanized frames for their fleet, because the bleachers need to last outdoors," said Steve Flowers, sales manager for Belson Manufacturing Co., based in North Aurora, Ill. "The whole idea is that it has to be easy for the dealer to put up and take down - mobility is the key."

Safety also is a big issue, of course. Manufacturers have responded by paying close attention to such critical areas as spacing allowed for railings, aisle egress and codes for riser boards. There are four different organizations in the United States alone that are working on one common set of codes by the year 2000. Whether that will come to pass is iffy, as every city and town seems to have different regulations to adhere to anyway. The point is that there are some extremely high-quality bleacher and grandstand products to choose from.

Another example of the trend toward more mobility - and from which the rental industry stands much to gain - is a fairly recent move toward renting bleachers and grandstands for traveling shows, Orser said.

"We're seeing a lot more vaudeville-type shows and smaller circuses that no longer want to own and lug bleachers and grandstands around," he said.

For example, a recent theatrical company has been mounting plays and musicals and taking them to inner-city locations like abandoned lots so that lower-income residents can be exposed to theater.

"These companies are renting (or purchasing) bleachers for these Broadway-like productions, and that's a fairly new application that emerged last fall in major cities like Chicago, Atlanta and New York."

But the growing trend toward bleachers and grandstand rentals isn't limited to urban events. Page 58

From Page 56 Picture the small town square where the mayor is going to speak to the garden club and other civic organizations. Renting tried-and-true chairs may take too long for set up, but one or two sets of bleachers can accommodate everyone.

"Setup time can be cut down because a bleacher takes no more labor than it would to install a tent," Flowers said. "For example, a local high school recently rented bleachers for an art class, in which the bleachers needed to be set up for a few days. Chairs are not really suited to that, and we've seen more and more applications like this where renting bleachers is a perfect solution for the customer."

The potential for rental sales also is not limited to such small events as an art lecture. Picture the famous Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, Calif. The municipalities involved pay for these rentals and then turn around and sell the seating - a win-win situation. "A rental owner might be able to rent 10 grandstands plus cover some of them, and everybody wins," Flowers said.

Kurt Warner, co-owner of Warner Shelter Systems, which makes bleacher and grandstand covers in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, also sees more and more spectator-oriented large events where bleachers, grandstands and tent-like covers for them are also being rented. "We're starting to see a lot more tent rental companies getting into the business of covering their bleacher products," he said. This provides some add-on rental opportunities.

Kay Park's Orser agreed. "Service organizations are planning more and more large events like three-day festivals, and all these functions need flexible, sensible seating solutions. Someone has to fill the void there is for this kind of seating, and it might as well be the rental industry."