EDMONTON, Alta. Infinite Event Services has acquired Allstar Show Industries, bringing together two of the Edmonton region's established event companies under a single, locally owned operation.
The acquisition pairs Infinite's event rental and staging business with Allstar's live-event production and audiovisual work. For clients, it means one call for services that until now often meant several: staging, sound, lighting, tents, tables, power and the crews to run them.
For Sheldon Fingler, who built Infinite from a one-person DJ operation into a full-service event company, keeping Allstar in local hands mattered as much as the business logic. Before the pandemic, Allstar's owners had been in talks to sell to a large global company. Fingler, a Morinville, Alberta-raised operator who still works events himself, offered them another option.
"Allstar is a name I've respected my whole career, and I didn't want to see it disappear into a global company," said Fingler.
"The people who deal with us are still going to be able to pick up the phone and talk to the owner. I was raised in a small town where a handshake meant something, and that's still how I like to do business." Allstar's outgoing owners, Gary Urlacher and Rodger Boyce, are retiring after decades building the company. They chose to hand it to a local operator they had known and worked alongside for years.
"Sheldon is a very hands-on people person. He gets his hands dirty and will not ask someone to do something he is not prepared to do himself. I was once like that," said Gary Urlacher, co-founder of Allstar Show Industries. "I started in this business when I was 15 and never stopped. It was time to retire, but we really wanted to see the company grow back to its glory and keep our people, because we have some exceptional people."
The two businesses fit together on the calendar as well as on the job site. Allstar runs hardest through the summer, supplying production for outdoor fairs, concerts and festivals. Infinite's busiest stretch comes in the fall and winter with corporate work, when Allstar's crews and equipment are freer. Together, the companies expect to take on events either would have had to turn down alone.
"Bringing these two companies together means we can say yes to more," Fingler said. "Between us we've got the equipment, the crews and the experience to handle events we'd each have had to pass on. For customers, that's one call instead of five."
Allstar is the technical production company for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and works on concerts, tours, fairs and permanent audiovisual installations across the region. Together, the two companies now field seven Stageline outdoor covered stages, the largest such fleet west of Ontario and second only to one other supplier in Canada, giving the combined operation the capacity to take on festivals of nearly any size.
Both companies will continue operating under their existing names for now. Fingler said his focus in the months ahead is investing in Allstar's equipment and people, and bringing the two teams together.
Infinite Event Services is based in Edmonton and serves clients across the capital region and northern Alberta.
About Infinite Event Services
Founded in Edmonton more than two decades ago, Infinite Event Services provides event rentals and production for weddings, corporate events and festivals, including tents, staging, tables, chairs, audiovisual and on-site technical support. The company is known for a hands-on, service-first approach under working owner Sheldon Fingler.
About Allstar Show Industries
Allstar Show Industries is an Edmonton-based live-event production and audiovisual company providing sound, lighting, staging and systems integration for concerts, festivals, tours and permanent installations. Founded in 1979, Allstar has worked events ranging from the Olympic Games to major concerts and is the production company for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.