About Top Gunn Equipment Rentals, Inc.
In 1988, Jay Gunn and his brothers Don and David were using trailers on weekends to haul used furniture they were selling on the side of the road off Ohlen Road and 183. With the trailers sitting idle all week, they decided to start renting them for the rate of $20 per day. In a matter of days, they had their first rental, and a new business was born. The name of that company was Three Gunn Enterprises, Inc., and it eventually operated over 300 rental trailers at an average of 20 to 50 stores, from 1988 through 1995, similar to U-Haul except that they did not offer one-way rentals. Being spread out from San Antonio to Waco, and Bastrop to Johnson City became unmanageable in many respects. They were operating through other businesses, and sharing the revenue gave them too little control over the quality and details of customer service.
In January 1996 all trailers were sold off and Top Gunn Equipment Rentals, Inc. was born. We had acquired our South 1st Street location and offered $20 a day trailer rentals and vehicle inspections. Within a couple of months, we slowly began acquiring different lines of rental equipment and our present business model was formed. In 2000, a north location on W. Anderson Lane became available, and we opened our North Store. In 2005, we branched out into Lawn & Garden Equipment sales when we began selling Stihl Outdoor Power Equipment. Then we got brave and added Hustler Zero Turn Mowers to our lineup in 2006. After that, we decided to do service work for customers on pretty much anything we rent or sell as well. In 2012, having long outgrown the north location, we were able to acquire a larger location directly across the street and now operate at 7920 Anderson Square, with a 10,000 sq ft. warehouse and showroom. It was a huge relief for us, our customers, and our employees. We finally had enough room to provide better, faster, and more organized customer service.
In 2010, Brandon Marrs left a local competitor after helping it grow substantially the previous 10 years, and was named General Manager of Top Gunn. The Marrs family purchased a sizeable portion of stock from the Gunn family in 2015 and a partnership was born! Unfortunately, we lost Jay in December of 2016. He had bravely battled throat cancer, COPD, bacterial infections, and numerous other physical issues over 15 years. In spite of all his ailments, he was an inspiration to everyone he knew because of his love and kindness for others, and his grit and determination to never let his poor health slow him down. Brandon took over as President of Top Gunn, with Jay’s wife Corinna Gunn very much involved in the company up until 2020, when covid hit and the world went crazy! In September of that year, the Marrs family was given the opportunity and honor of purchasing the remaining shares of the company from the Gunn family, and continue to carry on the proud legacy created by Jay and his family. Now Brandon’s wife Alicia is there doing her best to keep him out of trouble, just like Corinna tried with Jay!
In June of 2023, we were also blessed to aquire Austin Outdoor Power from Rickey and Karen McGee, who had built it from scratch, and grown it into one of the leading outdoor power equipment dealers and service repair centers over the last 35 years. This added the Gravely, Echo, and Honda lines of outdoor power equipment to our all star lineup!
Since 1996, we have grown from one location to three, and from 3 employees to almost 40. Our product lines are expanding all the time. We’ve got the largest selection of Arborist supplies in the Austin/Buda area, and are now stocking and selling landscape supplies and erosion control products. And between our 3 locations, we are currently dealers for Hustler, Toro, Gravely, Walker, and Stihl Mowers, plus the full line Stihl and Echo Outdoor Power Equipment, Top Hat Trailers, Kawasaki Engines, Honda Pumps and Generators, and much more.
Our Mission is to make your life better because we’re in it. And no matter what, We’ll shoot ya straight!!