Vancouver start-up Cube2Go offers city dwellers a life less-cluttered with on-demand valet storage. Long-time friends and cofounders Jay and Kevin aim to challenge the traditional self-storage business model and help create a new avenue of services for homeowners. The pair of entrepreneurs met their own storage strife as first-time homebuyers when moving between homes and created Cube2Go to fill a void.
What inspired Cube2Go?
Cube2Go was inspired by our own lives. When we were in the process of moving from our parents’ larger homes and into our smaller condos and townhomes, we were lacking space to keep our items. It wasn’t necessarily “junk” we were keeping, sometimes it was larger items like multiple snowboards or a kayak that needed to be put away for the winter. We were looking for places we could store our items, but a lot of places were inconvenient. Not many people have a large enough car to fit large items in or have a car at all.
How does your service work?
Our service is simple. You sign up, we’ll drop off your clean cubes to your door. Once you’ve finished packing them, we’ll pick them up at no extra charge. Your cubes and items are stored securely in our warehouse. You’re able to view your catalogue online and schedule deliveries if you require your cubes back wherever within our service areas.
What’s in your cubes?
Each cube is clean and secure with a fold in lid that snaps shut (tape and covers not required). They are sealable by tamper proof straps and we provide bubble wrap and space-saving bags with every cube! We also have wardrobe cubes, business file boxes and we can also store individual items such as bikes, snowboards, golf clubs etc.
What about the traditional self-storage industry didn’t work for you?
Convenience was the main factor. Moving, downsizing and even just de-cluttering is a lot of work. To have a service that you can call on to pick up your cubes, store them and then deliver to you whenever you need it saves a lot of time, money and effort. I can’t imagine my grandmother downsizing and having to haul all these heavy boxes into a storage facility all on her own.
Why was an on-demand and valet service strategy right for Cube2Go?
We wanted to fill the need that was not quite answered yet in Vancouver. We’re all looking for ways to streamline our lives so we can spend more time living than working!
How important was it for customers to be able to view an online catalogue of their cubes and schedule deliveries?
The ability to categorize cubes make it easy to store multiple cubes and know exactly which one you need to take out of storage. No more opening up boxes and trying to find what you’re looking for. We’re all busy people and not everyone has the traditional Monday to Friday, 9-5 schedule. There are many people who work shifts or odd hours of the day, which makes simple tasks difficult. We wanted to cater to the people of Vancouver.
Why is Vancouver the perfect market for Cube2Go?
Vancouver’s tech scene is growing and we feel that the city is supportive of services that provide a simple solution to their needs. It’s no secret that there are housing and space issues in Vancouver and we wanted to address these problems – that we came across ourselves – in a positive and proactive way.
What sort of reception have you been getting from Vancouverites and customers?
We’ve been getting a lot of positive reception from Vancouverites! We often get a lot of “where were you when I was downsizing/moving years ago?”. We are so happy to help solve problems. We’ve been surprised by the range of customers we have – from renters who share their space, foreign exchange students, AirBnB hosts, downsizers, outdoor enthusiasts and even groups of people sharing large items.
Having known each other since high school, is it easy or hard to work together?
The great thing about working with someone you’ve known for a long time is that you know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. There is no hesitation to be completely frank and honest with one another and that’s why we work pretty well with one another.
Cube2G0 interview by Amar Mirchandani @amarmirch
