Pon North America Rebrands Companies as Equipment Depot

October 7, 2008 • One of the largest and fastest growing equipment dealer groups in the United States has begun to rebrand all of its operating companies using one common brand name.  

“Operating as Equipment Depot, we now offer our customers access to more people, products and services under one brand name at more than 40 locations in 12 states,” said Don Moes, president of the Pon North America material handling group. “We believe this new name better reflects the breadth of products and services we offer throughout our markets.”

 

The Equipment Depot dealer group is comprised of five regional dealerships. Those dealerships sell, service, rent and provide parts and training for more than 50 brands of forklifts, aerial lifts and construction equipment. They offer factory, distribution center and warehouse equipment solutions in all markets as well as farm equipment, rail car movers, scrubbers, sweepers, tuggers and utility vehicles in selected markets.

 

“Going to market using a common name better reflects our ability to offer customers more choices of new and used equipment, expanded services in more places, and better access to national fleet services, rental equipment, parts inventories and training expertise,” Moes said.

 

The dealerships that are rebranding are Forklifts Inc., Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Levee Lift, Evansville, Ind.; and Portman Equipment Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. They join the original Equipment Depot, which was founded as Central Texas Clarklift in 1975 and is based in Waco, Texas, and Equipment Depot of Illinois, which was founded as Material Handling Services in 1951 and is based in Chicago.      

          

“Retiring these strong brands required careful consideration,” Moes said. “However, as each of these regional companies has begun to expand its products and services it made sense to take advantage of the Equipment Depot brand. It reflects our commitment to become more than a material handling equipment company.”

 

“Each of the five regional companies contributes to Equipment Depot a rich heritage of providing outstanding customer service and product support in its respective market for more than 35 years each,” Moes said. “Each of these family-owned companies became a leader in its markets. Each company takes pride in the honesty, integrity and reliability it brings to its customers. These are familiar and trusted names in our industry.”

 

“In many cases our multi-state customers have been working with more than one of our operating companies but didn't know they were all owned by one company,” said Moes. “As we expand our rental operations throughout our dealerships it will make it easier for our customers to rent the products they need from people they already know.” 

 

Each operating company offers a different product mix and a unique approach to its market. All of the companies were acquired over the past 10 years by Pon North America, a division of the Dutch trading company Pon Holdings B.V. With more than 10,000 employees in 11 different countries, Pon Holdings is one of the largest family-run businesses in the Netherlands.