What's Happening in Colorado Springs, CO…

A storage company that calls itself the “Airbnb of storage” recently expanded its operations to include Colorado Springs.

STOW IT is the brainchild of Devin Eldridge, who came up with the idea during a move to Windsor from Fort Collins. He discovered he needed to find storage quickly, for a period of only four days, but could not find anything other than a traditional storage unit, which he had to rent for a month at a cost of $400. The disappointing experience led Eldridge to quit his day job and launch a business that connects potential renters with people who have space.

Eldridge works with people who have land, barns, or garages they are willing to rent to people who want to store wheeled vehicles, anything from a semi down to an ATV. Renting out space they are not actively using allows people to earn a passive income, in some cases as much as $2,000 per month, and the people renting the space still pay less than at a traditional facility.

STOW IT handles all the details of the transactions, including the payments, advertising campaigns, and checking out those people who are willing to rent out space. It also tries to meet all the potential hosts personally, and has even assisted in cleaning up sites.

New companies like this can benefit by working with a flyer printing company to create a mailer for area residents to advertise the concept.