Trend in Tenting Industry - Specialization: Making All Pieces Fit Together

The ability of people to create jaw-dropping events with spectacular tents, advanced lighting, elegant décor and air-conditioning is helping to change the way rental stores do business.
Savvy customers have seen what is possible and now they are demanding more, making it difficult for an event and party store to do it all when it comes to tented events.
“What we used to do is come in and put up the tent,” says Alexandre Renaud, international sales manager for Fiesta Tents, Lachine, Quebec, Canada. “Now we’re sitting down and planning. Now we’re having meetings with the architect for the land or area. There’s an engineer involved on the project. There’s more inter-relations with lighting companies, with heating companies.”
The result is that the industry is moving toward more specialization, creating a need for more event partnering. Event partnering makes it possible for companies to really focus on what they do best, whether it’s structures, specialty tent liners, lighting, flooring or climate-control systems. It means more companies sitting down together to plan for a single event where all the newest trends in tents take place.
“It is very difficult today for one company to be able to offer everything and do it well,” says Steve Kohn, president, Miller’s Rentals & Sales, Edison, N.J. “Some of the best events we are involved in or have heard about often have several specialized rental companies on the event site.”
Others agree. “One of the biggest changes has been the demand for tents to be set up complete with flooring, staging, dance floors, climate control and the ability of the rental company to become a ‘one-stop shop’ for these events,” says Mark Mayer, regional sales manager, Anchor Industries, Evansville, Ind. “To be competitive, party rental suppliers must inventory or have the ability to sub-rent a variety of items to fit these demands.”
Chuck Miller, president of Aztec Tents, Torrance, Calif., says the partnering trend means more niches in the party market. “A big trend in the event rental industry is specialization,” he says. “Finding partners within the industry in specialized fields allows businesses to grow their niche, while leaving a partner to help them in areas where their inventory might not be as deep or nonexistent,” he says.
Those in the industry say one trend has been the increased demand for clearspan tents.
Valerie Braun, marketing director, Chicago Party Rental, McCook, Ill., says the safety, adaptability and climate control options, as well as the ability to add features like high-end lighting and elaborate sound systems, are what have helped make clearspans a more popular option.
“Clearspan structures are now dominating the outdoor special event market because they provide maximum space and visibility, innovative shapes and designs, unlimited tent lengths and optional sidewalls, glass walls, clear roof panels, dormers, domes, multi-level flooring and doors,” she says.
Renaud says that while the clearspan technology has been around for a while, tent rental companies are just starting to get into it. “Ten years ago if you were starting to get into clearspan structures, you had to be a pretty big company,” he says. “It’s becoming more affordable for smaller companies to get into clearspan, or keder, products.”
John Schlueter, president, Karl’s Event Rental, Oak Creek, Wis., agrees. “Clearspan is a major part of what we install today. And that was not the case five years ago. We carry clearspans up to 50 meters.”
He adds that clearspan tents also offer a lot more creative options. “People, I think, are much more creative and, I’m happy to say, more educated on what they’re looking for. As has been true for several years, people are looking for the unique.”
Pat Moughan, national sales manager, Losberger U.S., Frederick, Md., says tents have evolved to be considered for use with all types of events and locations. “Events seem to be getting larger and larger, and locations are getting more unique. Tents are not just for the backyard party or simple company picnic anymore. They are getting installed everywhere from rooftops of 30-story buildings to inside buildings to create unusual event spaces.”
Suzanne Warner, co-owner of Tentnology Corp., Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, adds that tents themselves are changing shape as well. “Clients out there are really looking for something new and different. They really like the curves. That’s one of the things we specialize in. We’re finding that people are quite bored with straight lines. They’re really turned on by something new and curvaceous,” she says.
“The rental store is looking for something that can be used for many different applications. There are only so many things you can do with a frame or poles. One of the big trends we’re finding is the big inflatable tents,” Warner adds.
Kohn says that tent requests now mean rental stores have to be more flexible. “Many of our clients are asking for tents for their decks and patios that can be customized to fit into their unique spaces.”
Tim Maloney, CERP, president, Canton Chair Rental/Scott Costume, Canton, Ohio, says he hopes advances in technology will make it easier to connect different styles of tents. “I believe you will see more adaptation by the manufacturers of kedered to the working environment in terms of being able to interconnect kedered and other styles of tents, which is now very difficult,” he says.
“Customers are becoming a bit more savvy and understand what kedered brings to the table and, to some extent, are willing to pay the higher price for kedered,” Maloney adds. “I like the strength of the new tent frames, although the customer does not really care about that aspect unless you have a problem.”
What can go inside the tent today also is very different from what could be done in the past. “Clear roof panels, glass walls, cassette walls and flooring are all very popular now,” Moughan says.
“Accessories are becoming more and more elaborate,” Mayer adds. “When fully decorated, tents are beginning to look more like formal ballrooms and hotel lounges.”
Many rental stores are looking to other companies to help supply the type of advanced lighting, HVAC and décor that customers want. Flooring, too, can help transform a tented event.
“We are seeing an upscale trend of flooring with the use of true carpeting in custom colors and textures as opposed to AstroTurf™. Parquet wood flooring is now being used throughout the entire area, not just the dance floor,” Braun says. “Interior gables are being used to create
separate areas to allow for corporate hospitality packages to be sold under a single structure and custom liners are a very popular accessory for all types of tents.”
Schlueter says 1¼4-in.-thick tempered glass sidewalls, up to 11 ft. tall, are popular. “We’ve used that at weddings, corporate open houses and PGA golf tournaments — anywhere you want people to see the product inside the tent or if you have a beautiful venue.”
Ed Knight, CERP, president of EventQuip, Pipersville, Pa., says that “as tents become more mainstream, their accessories will become more prevalent. New flooring systems, from the improved synthetic,
lock-together, ground contour systems to the engineered, pre-manufactured, laser-leveled, elevated platform systems are allowing rental companies to provide floors with less labor and skill level than their wood counterparts.”
In the future, Knight adds, “lighting will see an increased use of LED and other technologies that provide the same light output with decreased electrical draw. Climate control will become more important as tents become more weather-resistant and seal tighter from the elements.”
Michael Tharpe, TopTec, Laurens, S.C., agrees. “The overall tenting season has become longer. With the new styles and designs, it provides a more suitable product to be used in more stringent
weather conditions.”
Other trends include the development of clear panels, logos and custom color on tents. “One thing we also have seen, trend-wise, is the use of clear panels in tops, whether it’s just clear skylight
panels cut in or, with frame tents, the whole panel being clear. That’s just in the past couple of years,” says Carol Cundey, marketing and communications manager for Eureka! The Tent Co.,
Binghamton, N.Y.
Now, “almost everyone’s doing some type of clear panel or clear cut-out, or colors. I would say in the past two years alone, we’ve had a huge, huge number of people calling for logos on the smaller canopies,” she says.
Schlueter agrees. “It seems that customers are more interested in getting that corporate identity on structures than they have been in the past. And having colors on the clearspan to have that identity. At Karl’s, [those types of products have] just been flying out the door,” he says.
Clearspan tents and all the advances in tent technology have helped to take the tenting business into new markets and to grow the industry.
“The effective use of tents in high-profile situations — golf tournaments, auto racing, tents as semi-permanent buildings and more — combined with tents successfully being employed for special events, both spectacular and simple, is continuing to affirm tents not only as shelter, but as a way to create wonderful venues,” Knight says. “Increased capabilities, public acceptance and client expectations are allowing industry professionals to thrive.”
Tharpe agrees. “Tenting has become accepted as a viable alternative to any type of event.  The professionalism and quality of the event side of the business has given more acceptance for this to happen,” he says.
John Crabbe Jr., CERP, Vermont Tent Co., South Burlington, Vt., says that as a result of the many advances in the tent industry and the visibility of the business, tent work is becoming a career rather than just a job.
“I see it much more than it ever was happening before.
I have a lot more people who used to work for other companies. That’s a big difference from the old days,” he says. “The companies are spending a lot more time in training. We have a lot of people in the [ARA Certified Event Rental Professional (CERP)] program. We want to keep employees long-term, so that works out.”
In addition, advances in tent technology have increased awareness of safety issues.
“There has been a gradual shift towards using engineered tenting products in the last decade with a tremendous rise over the last few years as a result of user awareness, local ordinances and public safety,” Miller says. “Buyers have become acutely aware of the quality of their products. Experience in dealing with multiple suppliers, partnering and greater communication throughout the industry has raised the buyer’s expectations of their supplier’s performance.”
Many in the industry cited last year’s tent staking study by the Industrial Fabrics Association International as an example of rising safety standards (see Rental Management, September 2005, pages 70-74.) “This is a new standard,” Crabbe Jr. says. “It gives you great information about how to stake your tents and what the proper loading for the tents is. Now that this knowledge is available, you have to use it. If you don’t, you’re going to be liable.”
Renaud says there’s more cooperation with local fire marshals and efforts to adhere to building codes, which wasn’t an issue 10 years ago.
“Now [officials] want to know the wind rating and if we have fire certificates, so most rental companies are looking to manufacturers that will have that information for them. Manufacturers are making sure they have wind analysis,” he says.
Cundey agrees. “One of the biggest changes we’ve seen as a manufacturer dealing with our customers is the need for engineered tents, with the various code enforcement. There are more and more requests for engineered documentation with each tent you set up, with wind ratings.”
Renaud says a by-product of wind analysis has been more advances in tent technology because structural engineers have become more aware of what works in different structures.
“The codes are pushing people to go to a better technology,” he says. “If it weren’t for that, the tent
industry wouldn’t have changed in the last 15 years.”