New spot, good feeling
By Carroll McCormick
Features News ShowsExhibitors and organisers said good things about this year’s new Laval venue for Quebexpo, which drew 80 exhibitors.
Exhibitors and organisers said good things about this year’s new Laval venue for Quebexpo, which drew 80 exhibitors. “From the comments I heard, it is easy to move in and out and there are more dock spaces. The facility is an open concept and everyone is in one big room,” says Nathalie McGregor, managing director of the Canadian Rental Association.
The higher ceilings and brighter lighting were appreciated at Quebexpo’s new location in Place Forzani in Laval, Que. The association plans to return for the next edition. Photo by Carroll McCormick
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The high ceiling in the 55,000-plus square-foot exhibition hall certainly served the needs of Mirabel-based agricultural and construction equipment outlet J. René Laford. Their display included the heaviest and tallest piece of equipment at the show, a Manitou rotating telescopic handler, with a 67-foot extension. This is the first year that René Laford is offering this impressive machine.
Shawn Parks, with Rentquip Canada, notes of the venue, “The lighting is excellent. The high ceilings give it an airy feeling.” This year Rentquip added Patron’s branded air compressors to its lineup.
The Association de Location du Quebec lost its old venue in Saint-Hyacinthe after last year’s show. The new Laval location is in Place Forzani, just off Autoroute 440, just north of Montreal. Getting to Laval is its usual tricky self during rush hour, but barring traffic troubles, it is a clean run in to Place Forzani from the east on the A40, from the west via the A20 and the South Shore via the Champlain Bridge or Lafontaine Tunnel and connecting Autoroutes.
On the scene at Quebexpo 2014: Paul Ravary, national director; Marc Mandin, CRA president; Nathalie McGregor, CRA managing director and Stephane Mayrand, ALQ president.
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Laval-based Brooks Construction Equipment had several new products on display in its 40-by-60-foot booth; it was the largest one at the show, according to David Latour, national sales manager of Brooks’ construction equipment division. Among them were three Kaeser compressors, rated at 92, 185 and 375 CFM. “The 375 cfm model is unique in that it is dual-function: compressor and eight-kilowatt generator,” Latour says. Brook’s also had TransCube fuel tanks on display for the first time this year, in three sizes: 500, 1,000 and 2,000-litre. “For the TransCube fuel tanks we are exclusive for Quebec. They are Transport Canada-approved and offer dual wall containment. You are allowed to transport these tanks full. You can’t do that with the round tanks,” Latour explains. He speaks highly of Place Forzani and Quebexpo. “I like the location. We have been coming to Quebexpo since the beginning of time. For us, this is the best show in Canada. It is a buying show.” Other Brooks machinery, such as Kodiak pressure washers, lawn and garden equipment, Flagro heaters and Salsco wood chippers, vied with scores of other brands such as Atlas Copco, Diamond Products, Wacker Neuson, Hybrid, Wallenstein, Takeuchi, Phoenix, Corniver and Bluebird for the attention of rental store owners.
Hilti Canada was tempting buyers with a new Hilti product: the TE3000 electric breaker. It breaks concrete up to 12 inches thick. It is comparable to a 60-pound air tool. While Carmine Spagnuolo, manager for rental stores and authorised distributors in Central and Eastern Canada, talked shop, a colleague deliberately knocked over a tripod on which he had mounted a Hilti RPR30-HVS rotating laser. Apparently a favourite party trick for wringing gasps from buyers, this little show nicely demonstrated how this robust laser’s four handles is built to absorb the sort of abuse it can expect to get on construction sites.
In response to calls for sound-attenuated pumps, Tsurumi Canada now stocks a generator that is shielded inside an insulated housing. At its booth, Tsurumi displayed two versions of its dry-prime, towable generators: an 80-horsepower John Deere motor and 2,400 gallon-per-minute model in an sound-attenuating housing, and one without a housing. “We are getting a demand for sound attenuated [pumps], so we have begun stocking it,” says Johnny Ciaraldi, sales representative. Ciaraldi, who hails from Cambridge, Ontario, handles all of the company’s shows in Canada. “We just opened up an office in Saskatoon. Now every region in Canada is represented by Tsurumi. Every office has a warehouse,” he says.
Quebexpo 2015 will be held at Place Forzani, according to McGregor. “As you may know, anytime you change the location of a show you take a risk on the outcome. This new location turned out to be a great success and we anticipate 2015 to surpass this year. Some of our associate members have already requested additional booth spaces. This show would not be a success without hard work from the Quebec local volunteers and great support from all associate members.”
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