Construction Equipment Guide
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Wed March 15, 2023 - Southeast Edition #6
Blanchard Machinery opened a new Cat Rental store March 2, 2023, in Aiken, S.C.
The dealer designed the new store to handle rental and new equipment sales needs of its building customers in the areas of Aiken and North Augusta, S.C.
As South Carolina's Caterpillar construction and power equipment dealer, Blanchard Cat recognized an opportunity to expand its footprint in the region to offer its products.
"Our goal is to be a convenient and close partner for our customers," said Jassen Volk, vice president of Blanchard Rental Services. "We wanted to be where they work."
He added that the dealership, based in Columbia, also will have other Cat compact equipment for sale in Aiken.
Although the Aiken location will begin primarily as a machine sales and rental store, Blanchard intends to grow it into a full-service location in the future. Today, customers can get field service done out of the Aiken location, but it does not yet offer shop service. For customers in the area who need shop service, Blanchard will continue to perform that work at its Columbia location.
"We will have parts on site and customers will be able to order other parts online at parts.cat.com and pick up from this location," Volk said. "Additionally, we will also have a drop box for after-hours parts pick up at this facility."
"It is important to make it easier for our customers to do business with us and be a dependable partner in their success," he added. "We strive to be a one-stop shop in carrying a broad range of Cat and non-Cat equipment for a wide variety of industries. Up to 40 percent of our rental inventory is non-Cat and includes aerial lifts, air compressors, light towers, vacuum excavators, tractors, a host of hand tools, portable generators and more."
"We knew this is a great market here," added James Campbell, rental fleet manager of Blanchard Machinery. "We already had some outside reps working in the area and we saw the potential to grow our business and to take care of our customers' needs. I would love for the people to come see us. We have a lot of equipment to offer them, and we are glad to help anybody we can."
Blanchard Machinery's full-service dealership facilities across South Carolina are outfitted with the newest diagnostic equipment, tooling and technology to provide its customers with fast, quality service, according to the company. There are more than 100 fully equipped field service trucks and more than 350 specially trained Cat and allied product service technicians in its shops and in the field.
Besides its Columbia headquarters, Blanchard Machinery has the Palmetto State covered with 17 branch offices from the Upstate, through the Midlands to Aiken in the west, to Hilton Head Island and the Charleston area along the coast, and north to Rock Hill, just south of Charlotte. CEG