Central Trailer Sales: Two Decades of Dealer Success
In 2004, after contemplating the idea of starting a trailer dealership in Minnesota, Brian Renstrom decided to take a leap and launch Central Trailer Sales. The first office was anything but conventional: a small, rented space in a lot shared with a car dealership and a beauty salon. These were truly“ very humble beginnings,” as Renstrom puts it.
Brian started by filling his open lot with $ 50,000 worth of trailers. What began as a one-man show has since grown into a two-location operation serving customers across five states and beyond.
From the Central Trailer Sales’ start, which resonates with many other dealerships that began small, the business took off! He eventually bought their current East Bethel, Minnesota location’ s building outright. Around 2020, he added a dedicated service and setup center just five doors down. Then, after a five-year search for the right opportunity, he took over a former Camping World property in Jordan, MN in 2024, with their second location matching East Bethel’ s sales volume just months after opening.
Bold Moves and Adapting to Change His success boils down to trusting his gut feelings and acting fast. The recession in 2008 affected the dealership differently than many other dealers were affected, as he puts it,“ We were so small we couldn’ t fail... we just stayed flat and then we grew.” The time during COVID was really a turning point. While other businesses pulled back, Brian doubled down.“ We bet on ourselves and bought every trailer we could get our hands on,” he says. He bought every PJ Trailer that he could get on a truck out of Texas. These moves locked in their status with manufacturers and gave them priority when inventory ran low.“ It was the smartest move we ever made.”
34 NATDA Magazine www. natda. org