WHY BUY? MORE AND MORE CONSUMERS LEASING ITEMS FOR HOME, OFFICE AND RECREATION

Mark Kasten showed off a chainsaw, one of the many items available at Rental Land, 1922 Independence Street.

Why buy?

That's the credo for more than 41 percent of U.S. consumers who report renting items for home, office or recreation.

Leasing has suddenly become a $10-billion-a-year business, with more than 12,000 rental outlets across the nation. That's not counting thousands of beach-side rental operations, car-rental agencies, temporary-worker companies and retail stores that rent equipment.

An entire business sector has evolved around people clamoring for convenience and freedom from ownership.

Now you can rent just about anything, from new cars and trucks to farm machinery and office and home equipment to equipment for weekend work (lawn mowers and weed-whackers) and weekend fun (tents, bikes and boats).

Some rental companies surpass the 41 percent of consumers who rent. In one instance a company located in a 69,000 population area leased products to 42,000 different people within a month. That translates into about 60 percent of the population.

Renting provides a number of benefits for consumers.

"It offers some great savings, not only to homeowners but to contractors," said Mark Kasten, whose family has been in the rental business for almost 30 years in Cape Girardeau. We were probably one of the first rental companies here," said Kasten, owner/operator of Rental Land Inc., 1922 Independence.

"Homeowners and contractors can rent items here that would represent a big investment if the items were purchased," he said. "Contractors can lease as much as $15,000 worth of equipment for $100 a day. And a homeowner can lease a floor sander that would cost him up to $2,500 if it was purchased."

Rental Land carries a large inventory of equipment.

Some of the most requested items by homeowners include carpet-laying equipment, sewer augers, hand tools, mechanic tools and exercise equipment.

The summer months are big for outdoor equipment -- camping tents, lanterns and camping stoves. Rental Land also leases a number of tents during the summer, primarily for parties and merchandise display.

The "do-it-yourself" craze has resulted in the need for many rental items, such as backhoes, trenchers, auto polishers, chainsaws and other weekend work items.

"Some of the most requested big items are the backhoes, Bobcats, trenchers and scissor man-lifts," said Phil Salzman, manager of Cape Rental and Supply, 879 N. Kingshighway. The company also receives a lot of requests for sewer snakes used to clean out water pipes.

Cape Rental also offers home and party supplies, ranging from a party tent to tables and chairs.

"We're kind of like the old Seven-11 stores," said Salzman. "We have a little bit of everything."

Cape Rental opened in Cape Girardeau in 1995. The store is one of three owned by Everex Corp. The company has been in the rental business a dozen years," said Larry Martin of Everex, which has operations at Rolla, St. Roberts near Fort Leonard Wood, and Cape Girardeau.

"We're expanding all the time at Cape Girardeau," said Martin. "We hope to add 35 percent more merchandise here over the next year."

Production Credit Association of Southeast Missouri and Federal Land Bank Association of Southeast Missouri have jumped on the leasing bandwagon with a new farm equipment leasing plan.

"Leasing farm equipment is a popular alternative to owning in many parts of the nation," said Bob Smith, vice president-credit of PCA and FLCA. "Midwestern farmers are beginning to adopt the trend."

PCA and FLCA are ready to make leases on new or nearly new tractors, combines, cotton pickers and other equipment for three- to five-year terms. Leases for center pivots can be made with seven-year terms

The center pivots are irrigation devices utilized by farmers throughout Southeast Missouri. "We just closed a deal on a center pivot lease last week," said Smith. "We're beginning to receive a lot of inquiries concerning the equipment rentals."

Farmers are attracted to the ability to deduct the entire lease payments as an operating expense, rather than being limited to deducting only the interest portion of loan payment and equipment depreciation, noted Smith.

"People in agriculture seem to have a better understanding of the concept of leasing that they used to, so they are more inclined to consider it as a cost-effective alternative to buying new equipment," said Smith.

Farmers need to consider several factors, including projected cash flow, tax liability and the number of years they anticipate keeping the equipment, added Smith. "There are some benefits to leasing."

Leasing allows farmers to operate newer equipment, and payments can usually be lower than loan payments.

The lease payments are tax deductible for the full year, even if they are made at the end of the year. And with no down payment, the initial cash outlay can be small.

Many companies lease office equipment -- desks, chairs and even calculators and computers and computer software.

And one of the biggest services on today's rental scene is the temporary worker.

"Temp" help services have shown gradual growth since 1980.

The average daily employment of temps was about 416,000 in 1980, according to the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services. Latest statistics, said Bruce Steinberg, research/media relations with the NATSS, show the ADE at 2.1 million.

Temporary employment is a good bridge to permanent, full-time jobs, noted Steinberg. A nationwide study of "former" temporary workers found that 73 percent are now working at permanent jobs. Of the 27 percent who are not working, the largest single reason (9 percent) is because they were full-time students who have returned to school on a full-time basis.

More than half of the temps, 58 percent, feel their experiences as a temporary employee helped them "get their foot in the door."

Of temporary workers, 39.5 percent are office/clerical, which includes office clerks, secretaries, receptionists, typists and cashiers, and 31.8 percent are industrial -- manufacturing personnel and factory workers.