Choura Events, an equipment rental firm in Torrance, has acquired the bulk of tent inventory owned by Inglewood’s Classic Party Rentals, reportedly the nation’s largest provider of tent and rental supplies and Choura’s former biggest competitor.
Ryan Choura, 39, founder and chief executive of his eponymous business, said the acquisition, which closed in late June, makes his company the largest tent supplier in the Western United States.
Choura said the company had annual revenue of $20 million and 140 employees before the acquisition. He has since hired about 60 former Classic Party employees, including sales executives and warehouse staff.
He declined to reveal the terms of the deal but said that he expects the acquisition to double the company’s revenue opportunities. The firm handles 4,000 events a year of all sizes.
Classic Party has more than 40 locations across the country. The company, which Choura called the 800-pound gorilla of event providers, has built tenting and interior elements for high-profile events including the Golden Globes, Indio’s Desert Trip Music Festival, Los Angeles Philharmonic galas and many others.
The company, founded in 1978, was acquired by New York’s Apollo Global Management in 2014.
Classic Party officials were unavailable for comment on the inventory sale.
Choura said his company has worked fast since the acquisition to secure contracts with Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Stagecoach Festival, U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and many others. The company does not plan to limit future events to Western states.
Choura Events has previously worked with high-profile clients such as the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico and the Electric Daisy Carnival electronic dance music festival in Las Vegas.
Choura said his company also built the largest temporary tent structure ever assembled for the December premiere of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. He noted that his workers set up 400 yards of tenting on Hollywood Boulevard.
The events firm grew out of a family catering business launched by Choura’s parents after the success of the Galley, a Long Beach sandwich shop the couple opened in 1969. Choura said he began doing marketing work for the business in 2000, and he received a share of the profits for his work. He wound up buying the company from his parents in 2005 using the money he had earned.
Choura said he acquired two event rental companies he had been using as vendors after discovering that catering events called for constant rentals of tables, chairs, tents and cooking equipment.
He later sold the food and beverage part of the business back to his parents to concentrate on events, including providing tents, tables, chairs as well as being involved in various aspects of design.
Choura said he does not like to describe the events firm as a rental operation, referring to it instead as a creative services agency. He said he has turned down clients that only want to rent equipment.
“We build experiences,” he said. “Competitors that just rent stuff have died. Our motto is to provide more design and creative services, a larger value than just commodities at the lowest price.”
– Diane Haithman
