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Aero Rental Founder Mitch Hoxie |
Aero Rental’s First Location in Tucson, Arizona | Tucson, Arizona | 2009 Rental Hall of Fame Recipient |
AERO Rental Inc. was founded in 1947 by the late Thomas Mitchell Hoxie. “Mitch” had been a contractor in California, and for health reasons, moved to Tucson. His plan was to build houses in the post World War II era. With a few pieces of small equipment and three lots he purchased just east of Reid Park, he set about building his own house and two others.
Soon neighbors, who were also building their houses, began to constantly ask to borrow equipment. Then when Mitch was ready for a certain piece of equipment, he would find someone had borrowed it, and he had to go looking for it. To discourage this, he decided to hang a “For Rent” sign on the equipment so he could get on with his own work. That prompted not only the people who had been borrowing, but also those who had been hesitant to borrow, to come to him and ask “How much?” Mitch found he had to buy more mixers, wheelbarrows, etc. because his original ones were then rented when he needed them.
Finally, he decided to rent an old gas station on two-lane Speedway, across from the old El Rancho Market, and with a 12-party phone line he launched the rental industry in Tucson. In 1949, the yard was moved to 1144 North Alvernon, one-half block north of Speedway, and AERO moved into its own building. At that time AERO handled both homeowner and contractor markets.
Over the next ten years AERO added several additional locations, but more and larger equipment meant more space was needed. So in 1960, AERO purchased the property at 3808 East Golf Links Road and built what is now our main office. It was at this time that AERO decided to concentrate on the contractor trade.
In 2007, they celebrated their 60th year in business, which is a milestone for any company to achieve. On March 3rd of 2009, Pam Bowles and Greg Hoxie proudly accepted the award for Mitch Hoxie’s acceptance into the Rental Hall of Fame in Atlanta, GA.
Fast Forward to 2010. Aero Rental Inc made the decision to dissolve as a corporation. As of January 1, AERO EQUIPMENT SUPPLY LLC was formed as an offshoot of Aero Rental Inc. Vern and Sandy Palmer (the former General Manager and Owner of Aero Rental Inc) decdided that they wanted to continue to do business and service the same customers at Aero Rental Inc in Arizona. Aero Equipment services Arizona’s equipment needs for rental equipment and power tool purchase. We also maintain a full service shop and a stocked parts department. As of February 22nd, Aero officially moved to our new site at 3161 N. 35th Ave in Phoenix, AZ. This site doubles our old facility’s size and enables us to better service our customers’ needs.