After founding and subsequently selling his storage moving company PODS, Peter Warhurst was planning to coast into retirement.
But a decade after selling the company, Warhurst had an idea how to improve upon Clearwater-based PODS. He wasn't interested in pursuing it himself initially, so he went to its CEO and then the board of directors, and ultimately was turned down.
"My first approach was to sell to PODS and get a royalty out of it, and after [they said no], I just didn't sleep at night," he said. "I talked to people about the idea and inevitably everyone I talked to with industry knowledge said, 'Pete if you start I will quit my job and join you.' And I heard that so much, I started it."
Warhurst founded Red Rover in January; it is best described as a cross between the PODS portable storage units and U-Hauls, which require truck rentals to move items. The "fetchable" solution with a patent-pending ramp system offers trucks for free at various locations and simply charges for the cost of the container.
"We have locations like a U-Haul to get the truck at your convenience and bring it back; but we give you the truck for free, no fuel, no gas payment needed, just the cost of a container," he said. "You can pack it in once and unpack it once with us."
The company is now expanding to a Long Island, New York location, to take advantage of the mass exodus occurring in that state after Covid-19 swept the nation.
"Covid has clearly driven people from Manhattan and Long Island, and I suspect someday down the road people will move back," Warhurst said. "Manhattan will always be Manhattan, so I'd like to be positioned to capture them leaving as well as returning."
His company has between 15 to 20 employees, and in the next year he is hopeful to be in half a dozen markets with a total of 20 markets in the following year.
"When I'm talking about markets it's the big ones: Boston, Dallas, Chicago," he said. "I'm targeting the bigger markets because of the power of our business model."
The company, which is also known legally as Easy Moves Holdings LLC, has raised more than $10 million since October, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
"We're fortunate: A lot of people believe in our vision, we're very well-funded, we have ambitions of first quarter of 2021 opening in several other markets," he said. "I still think PODS is a great company and I'm proud of what I built there, but hindsight is 2020 and we think we enhanced what can be done."
