Building
the business: Origins
Charlie's induction to the rental industry came
at a time when he already was married with two young children, and had a
corporate position working for an oil company, based in Donaldsonville,
La.
"A friend of mine who was a district manager like me went into the rental
business," said Delk. "I respected this guy, and he went into an A
to Z Rental franchise and that perked me up," he added. So Delk checked
into the A to Z operation, decided that rental appealed to him and, in
early 1968, quit his job and bit the rental bullet.
And then, according to Charlie, his fledgling business really got a shot
in the arm from Hurricane Camille. "We opened in 1968, and Hurricane
Camille hit in 1969. She is the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S.
ever and we were there at the right time to be able to help people out.
In 1971, U-Haul bought out the A to Z operation and Delk decided to sever
his ties, renaming the business ABC Rental Center.
After 10 years, the business outgrew the first location it was housed in,
so Delk moved to a new building located on Hewes Avenue.
In
1978, Delk bought a vacant gas station in Bay St. Louis, another
gulf-front town 25 miles west of Gulfport, and opened a second ABC Rental
Center.
Excerpts taken from an article that appeared in "Rental Management",
April 1992.
Bay St. Louis -
Grand Opening 1978
Rose Mary & Charlie Delk
Bay St. Louis Grand Opening day
FIRE!
July 1980 -
Gulfport location - Shop area
January 2000 -
REMODELING -
Gulfport location
Before
After
Showroom before
Showroom during
Showroom almost finished
Showroom finished
January 2002
- David Delk assumed the responsibility of President of ABC Rental, Inc.
and Charlie Delk assumed the responsibility of Vice-Presidency.
October
2002 - A third location was opened in Ocean Springs, Ms. This
location outgrew it's space within a few months therefore plans are being
made to move to a new facility.
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August
2004 - Ocean Springs moved to a larger and better location at 3399
Bienville Blvd.
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August 29th, 2005 - Hurricane
Katrina hits the Gulf Coast. Two of the three stores had minimal
damage but the Bay St. Louis location was flooded 4 1/2 feet. A
third of the staff and the owners, Rose Mary and Charles Delk, lost
their homes. Two days after the storm, all stores, including Bay
St. Louis, were back open to help the Mississippi Gulf Coast
start their repairs.
| March 2005 - Winner of the Coast
Chamber Tapestry Award for Excellence |
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March 2006 - Winner of the Coast
Chamber Tapestry Award for Excellence and the top winner of our category
"small business" |
| January 2008 - ABC Rental celebrates
their 40th anniversary! |
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