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A crew with Classic Party Rentals installs an 800-square-foot tent at Tom Lee Park for the annual Memphis In May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest that opens today. Classic is the event’s first exclusive tent vendor.

In tweaking the recipe for this year’s Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, festival organizers decided that less is more.

As in tent vendors.

For the first time in the contest’s savory history, a single company was awarded an exclusive vendor contract for all tents rented during the event. Classic Party Rentals, which was founded in Memphis and now has a national presence, made the winning bid to erect more than 200 tents for competing teams, a move MIM organizers expect to make the event run more smoothly.

This change should increase efficiency, said Diane Hampton, MIM executive vice president.

“We wanted to optimize park operations and minimize traffic during the load-in,” Hampton said. “We’ve got exclusive vendors in other areas, and so we decided to try it with tents. So far, the overwhelming response has been positive.”

Established locally in 1990 as Grand Rental Station by Stan White, his wife, Beth, and brother, Mark, the company was sold three years ago to Classic Party Rentals, which has three dozen branches from coast to coast.

Now the homegrown company is part of a national event-rental-supply network and is part of a larger organization that coordinates parties for such events as the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl.

Thanks to that scope, Classic is able to provide the tents necessary for more than 140 teams this year, White said.

“We’ve supplied tents for the contest for the last 20 years and we had more than 60 put up for this year’s music festival, but this is a much bigger order,” said White, general manager of the Memphis operation. “I think that our knowledge of how it works combined with our inventory give us an edge.”

The single-vendor change suited Memphian Gene Slater, team captain for the Fossil Fuel Porkers.

“I came down here and they had everything all set up for us. It couldn’t have gone any better,” he said. ” Things got done faster and more professionally than in some years past.”

That’s what festival organizers hoped to hear, Hampton said, although she acknowledged that some tweaking still needs to take place.

Greg Kalatsky of Laguna Beach, Calif., captain of Kill ‘Em & Grill ‘Em Que, said the Classic folks had done a fair job, but need to add workers next year.

“I’m not sure that one company can handle a job this big unless they get a lot more people in here,” Kalatsky said. “They’re working as hard as they can, but there’s only so much they can do.”

Despite some minor issues, Hampton said most of the feedback has been supportive and it’s likely that the festival will operate under a single tent vendor contract next year.

That would suit Memphian Jim Boland, logistics manager and a cook for the Danish National BBQ team, just fine.

“The change is a good one and I’m glad they did it,” Boland said. “There may have been some glitches here and there, but nothing major that I could tell. For me, it’s been a seamless experience.”

– James Dowd: 529-2737

Classic Party Rentals

Founded: 1990

Principal: Stan White, founder and general manager

Rebranding: Formerly Grand Events, acquired by Classic in 2007

Employees: 50

Location: 3347 Pearson

Phone: 366-0670

More information: classicpartyrentals.com

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