Cedar Street Sales and Rentals

The entire staff at Cedar Street Sales & Rentals wants to thank you for your patience during the road construction project. We are movin’ on up from a beat up, one lane dirt road to a paved road complete with lines. Cedar Street is now paved, the bridge has been raised to accommodate tall tractor-trailers and some of the sidewalks leading to the park have been completed. The balance of the work is scheduled to be finished next spring. We are excited. It was much overdue and it will really look nice once completed. The sidewalks will serve a much needed purpose allowing access to our beautiful Dewitt Park. 

For most of November it was difficult at best to get to our business. Many times the wait was 15 minutes or more and customers were forced to try both ends of the street. We greatly appreciate our loyal customers who took extra time out of their day to pick up rental equipment, buy a part, shop for a new snowblower or chainsaw, or just stop in to browse. We realize that your time is precious and we can’t thank you enough for supporting us. 

We want to thank Zoladz Construction for a job well done, especially considering the time frame and conditions that they were given to complete the job. They worked incredibly hard and tried their best to be as accommodating as possible to the businesses and homes on Cedar Street. 

As a token of our appreciation we are raffling off a Shop Local Christmas Gift Basket complete with Oliver’s Candies, Kutter’s Cheese, Finger Lakes Wine, local movie and dinner gift certificate and $100 spending money! No purchase necessary. It’s our thanks just for stopping in. The drawing will be held on Wednesday, December 18th.

Thank you again for 20 years of support. God Bless and Merry Christmas. 
Guy Clark
Cedar Street Sales and Rental

Join us for the Our Lady of Mercy Parish - 2013 Ten Trip Dinner Raffle on Saturday, April 27th from 6 to 10 p.m.!

This year's trips include: 

• Cancun
• Toronto
• Thunderhart Golf Resort
• Florida
• Splash Lagoon
• & more!

Tickets to this event are $25, which includes 10 chances to win, buffet dinner, dessert, beer, wine and soda. For more information about this event or to purchase tickets, please call (585) 768-6543. Our Lady of Mercy Parish is located at 44 Lake St., Le Roy, NY. Come out and help support Catholic education!

It's all about relationships, says Guy Clark Jr., owner of Cedar Street Sales and Rentals.

Clark's business turned 20 today, and he said the enterprise has lasted because the people of Genesee County have trusted him and his staff.

"We owe a big thanks to the community," Clark said.

Raised in Stafford, Clark opened his first tool shop in Le Roy in 1985. He described it as an under-capitalized one-man operation, and he struggled, but he also started to gain a good reputation.

As the calendar flipped to 1993, the people at Cummings & Bricker, a Batavia-based wholesaler of farm equipment, approached Clark about opening a rental business on Cedar Street. Cummings and Bricker already owned the property, so they along with Clark and Ricky Palermo joined forces and opened Cedar Street Sales and Rentals March 1, 1993.

After a few years, Cummings and Bricker pulled out because both businesses shared the same peak seasons, Clark said, and that caused a little tension.

Another partner entered the picture for a few years, but seven years ago, Clark became sole owner of the business and has operated it successfully since, despite a recession and increased competition from the likes of Home Depot and Lowe's.

Clark said Home Depot went after the local rental business pretty hard a few years back.

Whatever Clark set as his rental price, Home Depot would offer the same tool for $1 less.

"They were attacking us pretty hard, but then they closed (the rental business) about three years ago," Clark said. "I was thrilled for that. I was proud of that."

Cedar Street has become one of the top Cub Cadet dealers in the nation, but there was a time when Clark didn't sell lawn mowers.

A persistent salesman kept trying to get him to stock a few, until finally, Clark recalled, the salesman said, "Look, let me put six in your store and if they don't sell by fall, I'll take them back, no hard feelings."

Clark added, "That was about 5,000 lawn mowers ago."

Clark was all smiles during the 20th anniversary party at his store today and said he does feel like he's accomplished something getting this far, even if you don't always notice the time sliding by.

"You don't think about it, and I didn't start thinking about it until I started looking at a calendar," Clark said. "Until people start coming in and saying, you've been here a long time, and you think, 'hey, I have been here a long time,' you don't think about it. You just go to work every day and never give it much thought."

The celebration continues Saturday with food, games, prizes and a chance to ride an all electric zero-turn mower from Cub Cadet. Clark said Cedar Street is the only dealership in the United States with the new mower in the store. They will go on sale this spring. The photo above is of Clark riding the mower. Customers who test drive it get a free hat. Food will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Don Desjarlais, a representative of Oregon Cutting Systems out of Raleigh, N.C., talks about the differences in chain saw teeth during a chain saw safety clinic at Cedar Street Sales and Rentals.

The annual clinic provides area highway department workers and others who use chainsaws frequently detailed information on the operation of chain saws and their safe use.

It wasn't a Christmas card in the mail that put a bit bigger smile on Guy Clark Jr.'s face this morning -- it was a notification from Cub Cadet that Cedar Street Sales and Rentals has been named its 2009 Region 1 Dealer of the Year.

It's the first time Cedar Street has won the award and Clark couldn't wait to spread the news.

"I'm very excited," he said.

The award recognizes both the increased sales volume of Cub Cadet products at Cedar Street, but also the extra effort Clark puts into displaying and marketing Cub Cadet products.

One of the innovations Clark introduced that drew the attention of the Cleveland, Ohio-based company is a utility vehicle test track that Clark installed at his location.

Clark started selling Cub Cadet products in 2001.

“We are happy to present Guy Clark Jr. of Cedar Street Sales and Rental with the 2009 Retailer of the Year Award for the Northeast region,” said Tom Rossman, Cub Cadet director of sales, in a prepared statement. “What makes Cub Cadet such a great organization is having dedicated retailers, like Guy Clark, who embody the Cub Cadet brand in all aspects of their business. Guy’s progressive attitude and innovative ideas have helped Cedar Street Sales and Rentals evolve in a competitive market to continually meet the demands of their customers. In 2009, Cedar Street Sales and Rentals truly set itself apart from the competition.” 

Cub Cadet divides the United States into four sales regions, so Clark is one of only four dealers in the nation recognized by Cub Cadet in 2009.