The Junkluggers Junk Removal Business Featured in Long Island Business News

The Junkluggers were recently featured in the Long Island Business News in an article titled, “Long Island franchisee a Junklugger“.

In the article, Francis Hill discussed his background and how he is the first franchisee for The Junkluggers Long Island. He will expand on his specific development and expansion plans. Josh Cohen discussed how he founded and started the business while still in college, and how he has recently started franchising the business in order to grow and expand it throughout the East Coast. Josh talked about the new franchising opportunities, The Junkluggers unique concept, what differentiates them from competitors and how they give back to and help out the community through their services and support.

Click HERE to visit the Long Island Business News website or read the article below:

Long Island franchisee a Junklugger

by David Winzelberg

These days the franchised we-haul sector is as crowded as the attics and basement rooms the firms are hired to empty.

Launched 25 years ago by a Canadian college student with loans coming due, the modern trash-and-carry business has grown from one firm – 1-800-Got-Junk? – to dozens of franchised success stories like Junk Genius, Mr. Rubbish, Bagster and College Hunks Hauling Junk.

Francis Hill is hoping there’s room for at least one more. Beginning next month, the 30-year-old Glen Cove resident will start emptying local back yards and basements as head of the field’s latest entrant: Junkluggers of Long Island.

It’s a bit of a leap for Hill, who hooked up with Manhattan-based Junkluggers last spring while pursuing a master’s degree in not-for-profit management at LIU Post. Convinced the business has legs – and strong ones at that – Hill acquired the franchise rights for Nassau County and put the degree program on hold.

“I got to know the value of the business,” Hill said, “and how well they were doing in tough economic times.”

Junkluggers CEO Josh Cohen started the business in the summer of 2004, cleaning out attics and other spaces between semesters at the University of Connecticut. After conquering

Fairfield County, Cohen expanded to Westchester, then into New York City and northern New Jersey. Cohen decided to franchise the concept two years ago. “It’s a scalable business and a business that’s needed anywhere,” he said. “Everybody’s got junk.”

Trash-hauling franchises are more accessible than many other concepts, with relatively low startup costs that range from $70,000 to $120,000. That includes a service truck, three months of operating expenses, signage, insurance and proprietary software.

Franchise fees are generally based on the population of the service area. At 1-800-Got-Junk?, for example, franchisees pay $12,000 for a territory of 62,500 people, then $6,000 for each additional territory.

Junkluggers thinks bigger. Franchises run $25,000 for a territory of 400,000 people – there are three in Nassau – and $16,000 for each additional territory. The company also takes 12 percent of franchisee revenue to cover royalties and the 1-800 call center.

How to distinguish yourself in the crowd? Junkluggers is going the green route, promising to recycle or donate the largest percentage possible of your unwanted stuff.

“We recycle anything we can instead of running right to the dump,” Hill said. That also cuts down on tipping fees – they run more than $80 a ton at Nassau garbage plants – helping save the planet and reduce one of Hill’s largest business expenses.

Junkluggers also offers peace of mind with every piece of junk removed: If the company finds gold amidst your unwanted treasures, the property owner gets it back. And silver, too. Last summer, Hill found eight sterling ingots during an apartment clean-out job in Ozone Park, and promptly returned them to the landlord. Hill is awaiting delivery of two bright-green trucks adorned with the Junkluggers’ logo and phone number, 1-800-Lug-Junk, which just happens to be two digits away from its biggest competitor.

Though Hill once dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, Junkluggers will still allow him to explore the deep … of Long Island basements, garages and attics.

“Every household can use our service,” he said. “It’s a good investment for the future.”

While Hill has Nassau locked up, Cohen is seeking Junk-luggers franchisees for territories in Suffolk and Queens counties. The ideal candidate, he said, is an operator, not just an owner.

“That’s what it needs,” Cohen said. “Hands on.”

With gloves, of course.