PHOENIX -- U-Haul International Inc. has added dealers in several states this year. Ashland Grand Station in Chicago recently added U-Haul products and services to its gas station business.
The location can now offer its customers a variety of moving equipment and supplies including trucks and trailers, after-hours dropoff, rental items, towing equipment and boxes and packing supplies.
"We did our research, and found out that we did not have a U-Haul store in our area, so we affiliated ourselves with U-Haul," owner Namdar Babak said.
Live Oak Wine & Spirits, San Antonio, Texas, recently added U-Haul products and services to its convenience store business.
"Partnering with U-Haul will provide more exposure for my business," owner Paras Arora said.
Jacobs Country Store in Tulsa, Okla., has added U-Haul products and services to its convenience store.
"My brother and I opened up a convenience store with a small restaurant two months ago," Joseph Jacobs said. "And we had some more land available for the display of U-Haul equipment. So we thought about giving it a try."
Nor Cal Mini Mart, Sacramento, Calif., recently added U-Haul products and services to the c-store, which has been operating for two years.
Suman Singh and her family came to the United States from Fiji to pursue a better life. Singh saw an opportunity arise when she wanted to expand her business by partnering with U-Haul so that her c-store could stay competitive.
"I came to America 15 years ago, to join other family members who arrived long before I did," Singh said. "I just started our partnership with U-Haul, and I think I can do well renting U-Haul trucks to our customers."
Pranav "Om" Desai, owner of Sanford Food Mart, Sanford, N.C., recently added U-Haul truck rentals and moving supplies to the business he has been operating since 2006.
"I was interested in becoming a U-Haul dealer because I wanted to offer my customers additional services," he said. "We would like to become moving consultants for our customers."
Phoenix-based U-Haul was founded by a Navy veteran who grew up during the Depression. Since 1945, U-Haul has served the do-it-yourself mover with a network of more than 16,300 locations in all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. It maintains a rental fleet with approximately 104,000 trucks, 80,000 trailers and 36,000 towing devices. It offers more than 406,000 rooms and 36 million square feet of storage space at nearly 1,100 owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is a leading installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. The company also supplies alternative-fuel for vehicles and backyard barbecues as one of the nation's largest retailers of propane.
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