Kent Tent, an established local tent rental company, recently announced the purchase of Chatham Tent Rentals.
Kent Tent has operated in the Blenheim area, serving Chatham-Kent for over 25 years, and is currently owned by siblings Lynne, Nick and Paul Warriner. With the purchase of Chatham Tent Rentals from Toni Gernaey and Lou Ann Smeenk, Kent Tent expands their rental inventory from sixteen to twenty four tents ranging in size from a 10’x10’ frame tent to a 40’x100’ pole tent.
In addition to tent rentals, Kent Tent also rents tables, chairs, linens and a dance floor.
Discussions began between the two companies last December and the sale was completed in February.
“The topic came up last fall when we were talking to Toni about a set-up that they were looking to sub-contract. The ball got rolling from that conversation and Toni and Lou Ann were great to deal with throughout the entire process,” said Lynne Warriner.
After many years of helping to create memories for their customers Gernaey and Smeenk felt it was the right time to retire.
Gernaey added, “We have been proud to be part of so many celebrations in the community over the years. We will miss helping to make those events special and memorable for our customers. Over the years we have built up a host of loyal clients that we will miss dealing with.”
The announcement of the sale was delayed to allow Gernaey and Smeenk time to contact those clients and notify them that Chatham Tent Rentals was being purchased by Kent Tent.
“We are pleased to hand our company over to a group that has shown the same commitment to quality and customer service and we hope anyone considering an event of any size will contact the Kent Tent team,” said Lou Ann Smeenk.
Kent Tent was looking to increase their inventory and expand their footprint in the Chatham-Kent area.
“We still run into people that are not aware that there is a business of this nature in Chatham-Kent. We felt this was a good opportunity to purchase an established company to help us grow in order to meet the demands which we have seen in our local market,” said Nick Warriner.
Kent Tent works with many different clients that host a wide variety of events ranging in size and scope from weddings to business events, birthday and anniversary parties, bridal and baby showers, reunions and retirement parties, farm shows and community festivals among others. “We’d like to thank Toni and Lou Ann and look
forward to working with their clients along with ours during this upcoming rental season,” added Paul Warriner.
Kent Tent does events year round in Chatham-Kent but the primary rental season is from May through October.
They can be found on Facebook and reached through their website at www.kenttent.com.
– This story is sponsored content
