One Boston startup has been offering customers "Don't-Do-It-Yourself" storage since 2010, but it's still managed to remain relatively unnoticed – ask someone if they've ever heard of Fetch Storage and there's a good chance the answer will be no.
Brij Patel, one of the company's co-founders, told BostInno "word of mouth" and "Google searches" have thus far been Fetch's best sources for customer referrals.
Soon, though, Fetch could become a household name; last fall, the company partnered with a new investor, and is now in the process of ramping up social marketing and public relations strategies. Already a popular option among Boston's college students, Fetch is now looking to grow its customer base.
Like many successful startups, Fetch prides itself on convenience. Unlike self-storage – which typically requires people to rent a UHaul, cram items into the back of a van or truck, drive to an oftentimes remote facility and unload everything into a storage vault – Fetch takes care of everything for its customers. Trained movers pick up the items that need to be stored, drive said items to one of the company's two storage facilities and the rest is history.
And when customers need their items back, Fetch will deliver them.
Deliveries and pick ups are free up to an hour, and storage pricing is based on the amount of cubic-space a Fetch user's stuff occupies inside one of the company's storage facilities – one "hub" location and another outside the city.
Customers concerned about security at either location – don't be. Patel explained, all items are shrink-wrapped and stacked by trained movers, inside climate controlled, fire-safe facilities under the watch of Boston's police and fire department.
If the Fetch business model sounds familiar, maybe you've heard of RentAnAC, which lets customers rent air-conditioning units from April to October. RentAnAc was Patel and co-founder Jesse Mastro's first venture, which they launched in 2004, during their final year at Northeastern University.
Fetch, Patel said, "offsets the seasonality of RentAnAC."
While Fetch's busy season runs April through July, the company is able to maintain a steady flow of customers throughout the year, with holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas requiring decorations and other items be stored and returned. With its year-round operations and convenient services, Fetch, after spending two years (2010-2012) at MassChallenge, relocated its headquarters to the North End, where the business started to take off.
In the first three years, Fetch has experienced "fifty percent year-over-year growth," Patel said. The company now has 15 employees – originally, Patel said, the Fetch founders did the pick-ups and deliveries themselves. And last fall, Fetch received the support of an investor, nationwide housecleaning franchise MaidPro, located at 77 North Washington St. in the North End.
Fetch's new office is actually inside MaidPro's North End headquarters.
Patel wouldn't disclose specific details on MaidPro's investment, but he suggested Fetch is receiving "strategic" and financial support from its parent company.
Currently, Fetch is evaluating a list of 15 metro areas for possible expansion.
"We're doing well with our Boston model," Patel said, "future cities would probably share certain [business] nuances."
Images via Fetch Storage
