Page 79 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

One of the first things Duane Sr. did as the new dealer principal was to buy Cresco. It was a brilliant move.
– Jeff Goggin, chief operating officer, Peterson-Cat
“Duane Sr. and Jerry Lopus [VP of Sales, at the time] hired me to start a retail rental business be- cause they knew Cat was moving in that direc- tion,” recalls Chris Smith, president of Cresco. “It was fun and exciting because we had to start from scratch. The first thing we did was found the Nor- Cal Rental Group. It was just me and a post office box, in the beginning.” Smith spent four months searching for the perfect company to buy. In May 1997, he found it. “Cresco Equipment Rentals had been a great Peterson customer and a big Cat user for years. When we bought it, they were on a down cycle and didn’t have any Cat equipment left.” Cresco was the first of many small rental outfits Smith purchased under the NorCal banner. And it continued to grow, adopting the Cresco name because of its high recognition.
“Duane Sr. was ahead of the curve when it came to rental stores,” says Gary LeVar, Cat’s western district manager from 2000–04. “The Cresco sit- uation was going on before the Cat Rental Store concept really took hold. Duane’s acquisition of Cresco was controversial with some of the Cat people who weren’t living and breathing it like I was. He had a very successful business model that worked incredibly well for the Bay Area. And until Caterpillar could prove why he should change, he had every right to stand his ground.” Over time, Caterpillar went the same route in high metropol- itan areas with the Cat Rental Store brand. LeVar was able to convince his superiors to let the Cresco name stand with the proviso that any new branches
Left to right: Robert LeVar, Duane Doyle Sr., Duane Jr., and Cat SF district manager Gary LeVar
Peterson opened would carry the Cat Rental Store name.
In 2007, Peterson Holding Co. bought Cresco, bringing it under the Peterson umbrella while still retaining its separate identity. Today, Cresco has nineteen locations throughout Northern Califor- nia. “Our service is why we get the business,” says Smith. “You can get what we have at a lot of dif- ferent places. But if we do our job really well and make it fun and interesting and problem-free for the customer, they’ll come back.” And they do.
CRESCO BRANCHES OUT
Cresco has grown many times over since NorCal Rental purchased it back in 1997. Much of that has come by listening to its customers. “If we’re really risk-takers and entrepreneurs interested in getting their business, then we’ll listen and try new things,” says Smith. “Some ideas have been duds. Others have been huge home runs.” Ten days into
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