Doing our best to bring the Party Rental industry into the 21st century.
How it Started
In the 1970s Larry Gagnon was a young entrepreneurial soul. With the basics he learned from DVCs culinary program followed by his culinary studies in France, he found a bit of a foothold in his newly minted catering business. He noticed that a lot of his customers were asking where they could get tables and chairs for the influx of guests that their party would undoubtedly provide. A small lightbulb came to life above Larry’s tussled hair. “I’ll just buy them and you can get them from me. I’ll be there anyways. It’ll save you a trip and having to find another vendor.”
From that point on, Gagnon’s Catering and Rental grew, alongside his other business cooking and providing hot lunch to schools all around the East Bay, into a trusted place for the community to turn to when they needed anything for a gathering they were putting together.
How it’s Going
In the early 2010s after decades of hard work and community support, Larry felt that it was time to take a step back and give his body a much-needed rest. He sold the business to his brother Steve who, unfortunately, didn’t have the culinary background that Larry did. He decided to focus solely on the party rental business, bringing his son, Kyle - who had helped around the business throughout childhood, high school, and when home from college -into the fray. Together they are modernizing the rental industry with the sole goal of providing the best experience possible.
A piece of our story that shouldn’t be overlooked is our two-way connection with … you. At the beginning of the shutdown due to COVID, we were unable to access relief funds meant for businesses like caterers and restaurants because we didn’t qualify on the technicality of not being a “food” business. Nearly all of our existing reservations were cancelled and we refunded all deposits and payments without question, but this put us in a financial bind. It wasn’t comfortable or easy, but thankfully, without knowledge of our situation, we had loyal customers calling us juuuust frequently enough to plan small family dinners in their backyards in hopes of breaking up their own monotony. To this day, I’m not sure they understand how impactful their continued support of local small business in the face of such a global challenge was. It was enough to keep us afloat through those difficult times and for that we are forever grateful. Thank you! We can’t wait to repay the favor.