National Cart buys building in north Reno for expansion

National Cart Co., a manufacturer of steel carts such as the wheeled racks used in bakeries and the specialized carts used in warehouses, has purchased a 66,240-square-foot building in north Reno and plans to expand its operations in the area.

The company, which employs eight people in northern Nevada, has been working for about nine years in a 24,000-square-foot building on Deming Way in Sparks.

Rob Unnerstall, president of the company headquartered at St. Charles, Mo., said the company's decision to purchase a larger space was driven by values that are currently available in the industrial real estate market.

"We want to be able to capitalize on the opportunity to plan for the future," Unnerstall said.

The building the company purchased at 305 Western Road previously was owned by Standard Motor Products. Standard closed its Reno distribution center in early 2008.

Unnerstall said the company likes its Reno location because of its proximity to customers in the West.

Its often bulky products such as the cart corrals found in supermarket parking lots are relatively expensive to ship.

He said National Cart may look at additional staffing in the new facility, although it doesn't have specific plans.

National Cart was represented by Tom Miller of Miller Industrial Properties in its purchase of the building. Standard Motor Products was represented by Paul Perkins, Dave Simonsen, J. Michael Hoeck and Dan Oster of NAI Alliance.