Doug Stevens, owner of Center Tool Rental in White Center, holds a photo of his parents, Jack and Stella, from whom he purchased the business 24 years ago. Doug has worked there since he was 15, seven days a week for 50 years. He closed the shop 8 months ago and is still selling tools as he prepares for his next chapter.
Photo by Patrick Robinson
After 50 years at the helm of Center Tool Rental in White Center, Doug Stevens is saying a bittersweet goodbye. The 65-year-old closed the family business in December and is now focused on selling off the rest of his inventory – a task that is proving challenging and nostalgic.
Doug’s roots in the rental business go back a long way. As a young boy, he helped his father, Jack, who was then co-owner of one of the only two rental businesses in Seattle. At age two or three, Doug learned the basics, such as how to operate a forklift to change a lightbulb. “That’s the rental business, and it started with my dad,” Doug recalls.
When Doug was 15, his father seized an opportunity and bought a struggling local shop called Delridge Rental. “My dad looked at me and said, ‘Now you’re starting to learn something,'” Doug recalls. And learning he did – over the next five decades, Doug became a master of his craft, able to repair and service every single tool in his vast inventory.
The business thrived under Doug’s leadership, serving both homeowners and contractors throughout the community. But after working in the industry for 50 years, receiving his service pin, and becoming a grandfather for the first time, Doug knew it was time for a change. “I had time to think about some things because I couldn’t walk for a while after knee surgery,” he explains. And with his family living far away in Tennessee, he decided it was time to step down and enjoy his retirement.
Closing the shop wasn’t easy, though. Doug is determined to find good owners for all of his tools rather than auction them off. He meets with long-time customers and friends, shows them his inventory and lets them buy the parts they need. “I’ll try to find the people who want them,” he says. It’s a laborious process, but an important one for Doug, who prides himself on the trusting relationships he’s built over the decades.
Those relationships will be what Doug will miss the most, he says. “It was about the community, and if you support the community, it supports you,” he reflects. He tells stories of going the extra mile for his customers, like replacing a broken hedge trimmer for free when he discovered it was a worn-out bearing. “He thought that was the coolest, most respectful thing anyone had ever done for him,” Doug recalls. “And now he’s a long-term customer of mine.”
For its part, the community has certainly been supportive of Doug. As news of his retirement spread, long-time patrons reached out in hopes of purchasing a piece of the store’s history. Doug is touched by the outpouring of support, although he isn’t entirely sure what the future holds for the Center Tool Rental space once it sits vacant.
“If someone is smart enough to open something that needs a community to back it, there’s a good community here in White Center,” he muses. After all, it’s the community that has sustained his business for half a century. As he prepares for his next chapter, spending time with his grandchildren and traveling with his wife Nancy, Doug is aware that he is leaving behind a legacy – and a lot of very good tools in good hands.
What happens when, after everything is gone, he needs an unusual tool he once had?
“I need to go see the guy I sold it to.”
Center Tool Rental is located at 9444 Delridge Way SW. You can reach them at 206-762-5057 or via email at [email protected]
