Rental industry experts often emphasize the importance of niche markets - pick your specialties and do them better than the rest. Don't try to be everything to everybody. Focus on your niches and you will stand out among ever-increasing competition.

Pueblo, Colo., the business center of Colorado's southeast corner, has attracted the rental big boys. United Rentals, Sunstate Equipment, Wagner (Cat) and RSC all have stores now in Pueblo. But not all of the area's independent rental stores are gone, and Tom and Chellee Price say their Grand Rental Center is in for the long haul.

"There's actually only two independent rental stores in Pueblo now," Tom says. "All of the others are part of big chains. The two of us are the only ones that have held out from all of the big boys." Grand has a good working relationship with the other independent, A-1 Rental, which used to be owned by Grand's previous owner.

The giants have bought out the other independents over the past few years. But that hasn't hurt Grand Rental, and Tom says the business has grown at a fairly steady pace over the years - and has done especially well the past three. He attributes that growth to the economy and the amount of construction, both for retail and housing, in the area.

The Prices are basing their future success on being the right store for the inventory needed by the mid-range contractor and homeowners. The business mix is about 48 percent contractor, 30 percent homeowner and 22 percent party.

"We range from backhoes, large forklifts, all-terrain scissor lifts, large air compressors and welders down to just the homeowner type," Tom says. "We don't get into any of the real big manlifts or anything like that. Some of the other [local] stores have them, but we are staying in the middle-contractor range and it seems to help us.

"The big stores have the big skylifts and that type of stuff, which we haven't been involved with since they came to town. So we don't feel they are a threat to us," Tom adds. "We have been here and a lot of the contractors know us and work with us."

The Prices have focused on the mid-range contractor. Tom bases his inventory decisions on return on equipment investment and turns per item. And his computer system helps in his market analysis by keeping track of missed rentals.

A recent example is Grand's purchase of a table saw after the computer's missed-rental feature showed many unfilled requests. So the Prices bought one at the February A.R.A. show and it is already paying for itself. "We'll keep the mid-contractors happy and buy what people are after," Tom says.

Grand's established presence in Pueblo also is a plus for the company. Tom says the company has probably 600 accounts, plus another 150 in party.

The Prices also focus on personalized service - which they believe their competitors just can't match. "We stress customer relations and keeping our counterpeople pleasant and someone you want to work with," Tom says. "We stress how important attitude is when answering the phone and how it determines whether the caller will think we want their business. I think that has paid off for us.

"We try to give customer service because word of mouth is best," Tom adds. "We keep that as one of our main objectives: to have a good rapport from the people who come to us and then pass it on."

The store's location also is helping in the competitive battle. Grand Rental is named after the street it is on - Grand Avenue, which is one of the busiest streets just off downtown. "We're within three blocks of the interstate and just really centrally located to where nobody in town is more than 15 minutes away from us," Tom says.

And another weapon in Grand's competitive battle is A.R.A.'s MBA program. The Prices say the program has already helped because of its group buying power. Previously they did most of their buying at the February A.R.A. convention, but now believe the MBA gives them the option of doing more competitive buying throughout the year.

Since Grand has narrowed the equipment focus, a couple of specific inventory items have stood out. One niche that has proven itself is Grand's cement plant. Grand's previous owners started the plant with three trailers; now the company has nine. It has been a good profit-maker for the company and four years ago, Grand bought a Trailer-Haul system to reduce labor. The cement is mixed in four minutes with the push of a button.

"So the guys all want to make cement now," Tom laughs. "Everything mixes together and just comes up the hopper, dumps in the trailer and they're done. It was a real good investment - a lot of labor and time saving."

There is one cement mixing plant in Pueblo, and Tom said it refers customers who want small loads to Grand. "They have to charge a small load charge (Grand will mix from a quarter yard on up) so for anything under five yards, we're real competitive on the price of concrete. It's easier for us to do it than for them to haul out a big truck, cost-wise anyway," Tom says. "If you get over that [amount], we tell people they're better off to call in one of their concrete trucks because you don't have the running back and forth and you can get it a little cheaper if you buy that quantity.

"So we work together [with the cement mixing plant]. We buy our sand and gravel from them. On some Saturdays we can run as many as 36 yards of concrete out. A lot of steady contractors use the concrete - we have one guy that we probably see once or twice a week."

Fence companies, which need concrete for posts, are good customers. Pueblo's waterworks department also buys the cement for manholes. When homeowners purchase the concrete to put in a sidewalk or patio, it leads to a lot of add-on rentals for Grand. That has created another niche for rentals of wheelbarrows, power trowels, bull floats, edgers, groovers, concrete vibrators, finishers and other tools.

Grand also does a good business renting out mortar mixers for stucco-type work, Tom says. Stucco is popular for buildings in this area, as evidenced by the front of Grand itself.

Trenchers also are a popular item at Grand, partly because of Pueblo's construction boom. Until recently, Grand was the only local store that offered 4-foot riding trenchers.

The construction season usually slows down in November, but that is weather-dependent. Tom says the area often has early or late heavy snows, but the winters overall have been mild the past few years.

"They say Pueblo has more sunny days than Phoenix," Tom says. "So we like to stay involved with the customers and get out and work with them and help them with their projects."

When it is cold, generators and heaters are popular, along with interior construction items such as sewer augers and cleaning machines, appliance dollies and tile saws. "We stay busy throughout the year and all the construction has helped us," Tom says.

During any winter downtime, the staff keeps busy by inspecting and repairing spring items such as lawn rakes and tillers. At this time, Grand also plans its purchases for the A.R.A. show. The homeowners, along with the contractors, start coming in during March if the weather is good.

Pueblo is about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs, so Grand's market area isn't really to the north, but goes many miles in the other directions. To the south, Grand has rented items in Trinidad, about 85 miles away, just shy of the New Mexico border. To the west (and a little north), Grand has gone as far as Crested Butte. And Grand's trucks also have delivered items about 100 miles east.

Pueblo, which has a population of 102,000, is home to a university and community college. Industry includes BF Goodrich, Trane and McDonnell Douglas, along with two large health centers. The area struggled in the 1980s when a steel company that had employed 7,500 hit hard times and was bought out; it now employs about 1,700.

The city is now rejuvenating its downtown by building a riverwalk and new shops are springing up. The new construction has included a Home Depot, but so far it hasn't added a rental department, Tom says.

At the tool store, Grand has four full-timers at the counter, one full-time service person, who does most of the deliveries, one full-time and one part-time mechanic. Grand also hires part-time summer employees, and many come back year after year through college.

The Prices have been successful in keeping their employees - some have been with Tom since he bought the business, so they do feel confident enough to be away at times. But Tom says, just like his rental peers, keeping employees - and keeping them motivated - is a constant challenge. One way he stays close to them is by being a very hands-on owner.

"I try to do a lot of counter work and wait on customers - probably more than I should," Tom says. "I like to visit with the people. There's not much that I won't do. I'll jump in and help the mechanics and do service work or clean the yard or mix cement. I just try to stay involved with all of it. For the pipe-and-drape rentals, I'm the one who usually goes out and gets them started, then they can go from there."

Grand has a large truck for the equipment deliveries, a runaround for smaller compressors and trenchers and two cargo vans for delivering party items. Grand also rents Ryder trucks for deliveries when necessary.

There are five other business areas that have helped Grand through these competitive times:

Advertising and promotion: "We try to get into the trade shows that are in town, the homeowner, the chamber expo," Tom says. "We do [advertise on] radio, a little TV and our local paper. We're in an area right now where we've got two phone books. We've been involved with both of them and it takes a little more, but you never know which one is being used."

Grand's party store advertises in the Pueblo newspaper's monthly wedding directory; the tool side advertises when there are special sections such as spring or fall fix-up. Grand also places coupons in the local shopper.

Donations: As with most businesses, the requests for donations is high. "We really had to cut back because we were sending a lot out," Tom says. "We established a policy that we'll give a 10 percent discount and at times, depending on the cause and need, or if they don't have anything, we will donate [the entire request]."

An example of a recent donation was for an Alzheimer's conference held at a local business. The business is a good customer and the conference was in the middle of the week, so the Prices were able to donate the tables and chairs requested.

Computers: The two stores use an Alert computer system, and only combine totals at the end of the month. The party store had been on Alert for awhile, but the equipment store just became computerized at the counter last summer. Payroll and inventory already were on a PC.

"I was one of them, goliaths too, who just couldn't see where you could write a ticket on a computer faster than we could hand-write it," Tom says. "That was my biggest problem - the customer service of getting them in and out." But Tom and the equipment store employees are now converts.

A.R.A.: Grand relies on A.R.A.'s Safety in Action manual. Safety tags

are attached to equipment and safety information is printed on the rental contracts. "We keep a safety record on all the small tools," Tom says.

"We try to really go through with the customer what a piece of machinery does and how to use it." The Prices have always been members of the association and the A.R.A. of Colorado.

Image: "We get a lot of comments on how clean our store is and how it's arranged," Tom says. "When the A.R.A. of Colorado came down here and toured the store, they thought the store was really kept clean. We like to keep it that way - it puts out an image that we care about what we're doing."

The image of cleanliness also is part of what the Prices think will help them in the future.

"We're just striving to keep the equipment updated and come out with new things," Tom says. "I don't know if we will get into anything real large unless the demand is there - we'll go with what the demand says."

Keeping up on the changing inventory and business world, especially with competition nipping at their heels, is part of the challenge for the Prices. When the economy faltered in the '80s and the steel mill laid off most of its labor force, it naturally had an effect on the business. And Tom and Chellee do wonder at times if it is worth risking everything they own. But they say the answer is yes.

"I think our customer service and competitive prices will keep us successful," Tom says. "We want to keep the business growing - our daughters may want it someday. We've had a couple offers, but right now we're interested in keeping it.

It's something we enjoy doing, provides an income and we like building a business."