By MELISSA HART

Michigan Correspondent

CAMDEN, Mich. — For 51 years, D-P Equipment of Camden has been serving the southern Michigan, northeastern Indiana, northwestern Ohio areas and beyond by providing quality equipment, parts, service and rentals.

Located on M-49 between Reading and Camden, D-P checks all the boxes; from construction equipment to landscaping tools, lawnmowers to backhoes, it has what busy do-it-yourselfers – including farmers – need.

The dealership was started by Dale and Pat Pushee and recently sold to three longtime employees: Dean Eby, the service manager, Sharon Gillen, the office manager, and Robert Galloway, the general manager. While it has always carried large industrial equipment, in recent years, rental sales have grown.

“We’ve seen an increase in the rental sales because homeowners, farmers and construction owners are all wanting to rent more,” said Gillen.

“Even the guys who own their construction equipment would rather rent a needed piece of equipment rather than buy a new piece that they will only use a few times a year,” explained Eby, a 46-year manager.

“It keeps their inventory down, their insurance costs lower and their overall costs are lower,” added Gillen.

The D-P Equipment customer base stretches across a 60- to 90-mile radius, but will go further if it has a product in demand.

“Recently we delivered a trailer to Texas; if people want it, we will sell it,” she said. “People are really searching for the best price, the best deal and where they can get the best service.  Availability plays into the demand, as well.”

D-P carries several brands of equipment including Terex, Danuser, Gravely lawnmowers and job site vehicles, Sure-Trac trailers, Gehl, Interstate Trailers, Thomas, ASV track loaders and it added the Coyote Tractor line last year.  Salesman Darin Higby said it has a wide variety of front-end attachments as well.

“If it attaches to the front of a tractor, we can get it,” he noted, adding the brands include Edge Attachments, Blue Diamond Attachments and HLA Attachments.

D-P carries a large line of used equipment as well.

Gehl skid steers and compact track loaders will be the featured pieces in the D-P Equipment booth at the Branch County Farmers Day and trade show at the Branch Area Career Center in Coldwater on Feb. 18.

“The folks who come to that event will enjoy looking over the new Gehl line, and we will also be featuring our special low-rate financing at that show as well,” Higby mentioned.

A total of 14 employees make up the workforce at D-P Equipment, where they are working to increase its online presence. “The website and our Facebook page have really helped us increase sales,” Gillen said.

Visit D-P Equipment at 10700 Edon Road in Camden, or call 888-368-5288. The business can be found on the Web at http://dpequipment.com/index.php or “like” to follow it on Facebook.