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August 29, 2013
Mike Blanchard, owner of Blanchard’s Trailer Unlimited of Louisiana, has given birth to three children, and more may be on the way.
“I like to start and develop new businesses,” Blanchard said. “There is nothing to it. That’s what I get out of it, the enjoyment of starting and running my own business. I enjoy starting a business from scratch.”
Blanchard is the father to a 33-year-old air conditioning business and a 15-year-old restaurant, but the youngest of his offspring is his 10-year-old trailer sales and rental business.
“We would drive to Baton Rouge to buy trailers and get them serviced,” Blanchard said. “I had to bring one in twice (in a short amount of time) and thought there had to be better way to do this.
“I saw the need here in Houma, a big need, and the need has continued to grow.”
The business sells and rents both utility and cargo trailers ranging in size from 5-by-8-foot trailers to 45- foot trailers. Blanchard’s customers include carpenters, law care professionals, general maintenance workers, oil field companies and homeowners.
“We have trailers to fill a wide range of needs,” Blanchard said. “Like a boat or a car, a trailer has a life cycle. They need to be replaced, and companies come out with new ones. There is no such thing as one trailer that you can use for everything. One of my customers, who owns a vinyl business, has purchased more than 30 trailers from me.”
According to Blanchard, his trailer lot started out with just eight trailers and now features hundreds of different types of trailers, and sales have grown just about every year.
“We’ve only had one year with a reduction in sales, and that was probably around the oil spill,” he said. “We lost some business, but we picked some up elsewhere.”
About two years ago, Blanchard also added camper and motor home rentals to his lot, and the fall is the hottest time of the year for that sector of the trailer business.
“People come in renting the campers to go tailgating,” Blanchard said. “The football season rentals equal what I make the rest of the year on campers.”
With all three of his progeny growing and prospering, Blanchard said he may next try his hand at opening and parenting a shopping center in the area.
“I really appreciate our customers,” he said. “Without them, none of this success would be possible.”
Mike Blanchard, owner of Blanchard’s Trailer Unlimited of Louisiana, has been in the trailer sales and rental business for 10 years. Blanchard’s customers include carpenters, lawn care professionals, general maintenance workers, oil field companies and homeowners.
