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Junk King looks to Valley for franchise
By Kristine Gill
YOUNGSTOWN
A national junk-removal business is looking for someone from the area to head a franchise in the city.
Junk King is a company based out of San Carlos, Calif., with 23 locations and counting across the country. The company boasts a green approach to its service, recycling at least 60 percent of what it collects from homes and small businesses.
“As we take away that couch, that mattress, that washer, that dryer, our goal is to keep it out of the landfill,” said Peter Gilfillan, a master area developer for the Junk King franchise in Ohio.
Gilfillan said the company chose Ohio as its next market for its wealth of metropolitan areas. Junk King targets cities with more than 500,000 people and recently opened in Dublin, a suburb of Columbus.
The Youngstown location is one of 12 statewide locations planned.
Rather than providing a large trash bin in front of someone’s home, Gilfillan said Junk King is a full-service junk removal company that sends crews to remove all junk from within the home and hauls it away.
Junk King determines which items can be resold at a thrift store — at no profit to the company — or sent to recycling plants, where it sometimes receives payback for recycled metals and scraps.
Some furniture and other items are given to groups that will repurpose and sell them.
Since starting in 2005, the company has saved about 2.3 tons of waste from going into landfills.
The company started when friends Michael Andreacchi and Brian Reardon took a service of hauling junk for friends and family to the next level.
“Peoples’ homes are their castles, and we understand they lead busy lives,” co-founder Andreacchi said.
“We can give them back their garage, basement or spare rooms so that their home will look like they always dreamed.”
With a franchise fee of $30,000, the total investment to own and operate a Junk King franchise in an exclusive territory is $90,000 to $150,000.
“It’s a great business opportunity for somebody looking to own their own business,” Gilfillan said. “We’re sincerely trying to do the right thing to help the planet.”
Anyone interested in owning the franchise can e-mail Gilfillan at peterg@junk-king.com.
Information can also be found at www.Junk-King.com.