General Info

Business History:In June of 1953, James P. Schafer and an army buddy, Chuck Selby opened one of the first rental stores in the country. Chuck left the business after 1 year and three of Jim's family bought Chuck's portion of the business. Though not currently a part of the business, they " Walter and Thomas Schafer and Bernard Korty " each contributed greatly to the business. Jim Schafer passed away February 19, 2000 and his wife, Ruth Schafer and two of his daughters, Nancy Stacy and Karen O'Leary are the current owners.We have been in the same location since the beginning, though we have grown and changed over the years. Knowing that we would outgrow the original building, we would buy property in the area as it came up for sale. Eventually, Midwest Rentals covered almost an entire city block, with land on both sides of 5th Street.In the early years, we handled tool, light construction, medical and party equipment in the same building with the same personnel. In 1985, a 10, 000-sq. ft. building was constructed next to the original in order to house the party goods. We found that specialization facilitated growth in both areas.