Saltbox, a startup that provides flexible co-warehousing and logistics for businesses, chose Doral for its first Florida location.
The Atlanta-based company opened a 31,000-square foot space at 1701 NW 84th Ave featuring 68 flexible warehouse suites, conference rooms, loading docks and access to freight services. The expansion to the Sunshine State comes three months after Saltbox raised $35 million in a series B round, bringing its total funding to $56 million.
Saltbox provides flexible warehouse space and logistics services to businesses that don't need huge spaces to store their inventory. To do that, the company fractionalizes a regular warehouse into micro-suites to support individual entrepreneurs and businesses.
About 70% of Saltbox's customers are e-commerce ventures that sell physical goods directly to consumers. That requires access to significant storage space, something many small businesses or first-time entrepreneurs may not have.
"Before coming to us, our customers were storing their products in garages, closets, basements, self storage facilities — anywhere they could find some room," said co-founder and CEO Tyler Scriven. "But that's not sustainable."
Scriven knows what it's like to have limited space as a business owner.
After a decade of working at venture-backed startups, he bought a small consumer product business called True Glory Hair with three physical locations. Scriven decided to branch into e-commerce as well, but realized he didn't have enough space to store items for shipping. Soon enough, an employee break room was overrun with products for online sales.
"I thought, if this is so hard for me, I can't imagine how hard it is for other entrepreneurs," Scriven said.
That led to the creation of Saltbox, which opened its first facility in Atlanta in 2019. Now, the startup has 11 co-warehousing locations across the country and a fulfillment hub in Dublin, Ohio. The company plans to open additional South Florida locations, but Sriven declined to specify where they could be based.
Saltbox is tapping into a growing market: E-commerce accounted for 16% of all U.S. retail sales in 2022 and is projected to rise to 22% by 2025. Demand for warehousing and logistics services are expected to rise as more businesses transition to online sales.
While Saltbox offers services to businesses of all sizes, Scriven said it is particularly gratifying to connect new founders and startups with the support they need to run successful operations.
"Imagine you're talking to an investor at a cocktail party and you're asked where your business is and you have to say 'I run it from my garage.' No one wants to say that," Scriven said. "If entrepreneurs have access to a facility like Saltbox, it can position them to achieve more success in a confident way."
