After 35 years of owning and operating All-Quip Rental and Sales, Bob and Sandy Boys were simply ready to move on.
The Richardson family and its Wichita-based R-Quip Equipment Rental, were ready to expand.
It was a match made in heavy equipment heaven.
After previously turning down an offer from R-Quip to sell his company, Bob Boys recently agreed to a deal that allowed the Wichita company to purchase the local All-Quip, located at 2811 N. Broadway, giving Bob and Sandy the opportunity to relax they have been looking for.
"It was time we retire and it's just simply time to sellout," Bob Boys said on Wednesday.
Troy Richardson, R-Quip general manager, said his company was looking to expand as a way of offering service to a "broader base" in Kansas and into Missouri.
"With the downturn in the economy, we had some extra equipment that was being under-utilized,” he said. “We were looking for other markets to get into. We liked the Pittsburg area because of the ability to serve additional places, such as Joplin (Mo.). It's a real centralized area down here.
"Plus, with there being an existing facility and one that already has a presence here in town, it made for a nice transaction.”
Boys, who launched All-Quip in 1974, said he had been pondering a sell for several years. Lately, he and Sandy have been anxious to retire, but they did not want to merely close their business without a similar company prepared to replace them.
"It's been our baby," Bob said. "We weren't about to let it shut down. If we didn't sell to them, we would have sold to someone else."
Boys said he is confident that R-Quip will continue to serve the local community as well as, if not better than, All-Quip did.
"You're actually going to gain service in that they are a larger company and they will have more equipment that, in the past, has had to be brought in from Joplin," Boys said. "We have not had the financial capacity to buy the large equipment. Contractors north and west of here had to go to Joplin to get larger equipment. Now, (with R-Quip), they'll be able to get it here. I'm pleased that somebody of that caliber is going to come to Pittsburg."
PITTSBURG —
