The humble milk crate. Nearly everyone has a few milk crates around the house storing one thing or another. Party rental companies buy milk crates (or otherwise "acquire" them) to store various tent parts, dishes, and what have you. They're helpful to have around to give a little bit more reach when hanging sidewalls, or to rest your buns during lunch.
A Little About The Milk Crate
Milk crates generally come in two distinct, standard sizes: the 16 quart (we call them "square") and the 24 quart (we call them "rectangular milk crates"). After all, they were designed to hold milk if that helps you understand the liquid measuring technique.
Most rental store owners know their milk crates by what goes in them. The squares are perfect for dinner plates. With interior dimensions of 12''x12'', plates fit snugly and travel safely to the delivery site. Rectangle crates are good when you need more storage, and for lighter stuff than chinaware. Use these to store your light strands, extension cords, tent hardware, whatever you can think of.
Because milk crates nest into one another and stack as high as you need them to, they make the perfect storage solution for any event company. Throw wet ratchet straps into some milk crates - the open air design allows the crates to be stacked and the contents inside to dry out at the same time. You won't be pulling out moldy straps like you might with a closed crate.
So why buy milk crates? After all, they're everywhere. Just pop behind your neighborhood grocery store and you're bound to find dozens of milk crates stacked up by the loading dock. Well, for one, it's probably illegal. Apparently the milk industry takes pretty harshly to the theft of milk crates.
Secondly, it's unprofessional. If you're running a party rental company, why spend 10's of thousands of dollars on marketing and new event equipment only have everything delivered in a bunch of mismatched, stolen milk crates that say "Producers Dairy" all over them. Yes, it's cheap and maybe it's only the catering company who sees the crates, but a little image of professionalism goes a long way with being able to charge what you want.
Fine, I'll Buy Milk Crates. What's Available?
You can now buy milk crates from EventStable.com that are made right here in the USA. Our milk crates are made from a heavy duty high density polyethylene plastic that withstand years and years of abuse. Both the rectangular and square milk crates have reinforced carrying handles that will hold anything you can load in them.
Each size is available in a variety of colors, which can really come in handy for quickly identifying inventory up on the shelf. Think black for standard white china, blue for gold rim, red for silver rim, etc. Or use different colors for different size tent hardware.
We've also made it easy to get wholesale pricing on larger orders of milk crates. You can buy milk crates in half or full pallet quantities, with free shipping and additional quantity discounts. Check them out:
Going Big Time?
Now that you're convinced you should buy milk crates instead of stealing them, allow me to present a fantastic option for larger rental stores or anyone who wants to slap their name all over the world.
For a one-time charge, we can create a molded-in logo for all of the milk crates you buy. Just pay once for the mold, and all your crates can have your custom logo on them, cementing your brand. If you're interested, please contact us for more details.