A startup called The Shed is putting a twist on the sharing economy, one designed to help households, retailers and manufacturers clear up the clutter and earn money off items that would otherwise just sit there.
“We want to be part of the rental economy, the sharing economy,” said B. Gottwald, a partner who moved to Denver last year to oversee the company’s launch here.
The Shed is stocking a warehouse at 5925 Broadway, and another one in Richmond, Va., with items it expects people will want to rent. They include kayaks and canoes, folding chairs and tables, aerators and generators, portable bars and patio heaters, bike racks and corn hole games, lawnmowers and ladders.
The company, which is looking at an April opening, has developed a system to catalog and track items and an online platform to rent them out. It is also recruiting a network of on-demand drivers with trucks, vans and trailers to pick up and deliver items, both to customers renting them and to owners who are providing them or need them back.
Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post
Jake Perrone fixes a flat tire at The Shed warehouse in Denver on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020.The company is taking advantage of several converging trends, Gottwald said. Young adults favor borrowing and renting over buying and storing, so much so that the sharing economy is expected to grow from $15 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025, according to the Brookings Institution.
More recently, Marie Kondo and others have popularized the idea of decluttering, causing more older adults to view the packed basement and overflowing garage as evidence of materialistic obesity, not financial prosperity.
But rather than keeping items around, paying storage fees, selling them at a steep discount or donating them to charity, The Shed offers another alternative — make money renting them, retain ownership and get them back whenever needed.
“We felt like Denver was the perfect larger market with the right type of population and demographics,” said Karen Rodgers O’Neil, the company’s co-founder and chief marketing officer.
Chief among them is that Denver has attracted a large number of young adults living in cramped apartments who don’t necessarily have the space to store all the equipment to support the active lifestyle they want.
Initially, the company planned to rely mostly on individuals to provide its inventory, but it has pivoted its focus on manufacturers and retailers who are getting pinched as more people borrow or rent items rather than buy.
“This is an opportunity to get them into the sharing economy and into the rental business to meet the demand,” she said.
Tony Roberts, founder and co-owner of Proud Souls Barbecue & Provisions in north Denver, said in the summer months people call wanting to rent a grill or smoker for parties.
“What I had found was the logistics behind renting them out on the weekends was difficult,” he said.
The Shed offers him a way to provide rentals without all the headaches of moving heavy equipment around and cleaning it for the next customer, he said.
Roberts took money out of his marketing budget to purchase four grills that he will dedicate as rentals. He expects a grill that retails for $1,000 should rent for about $140, of which he will get half.
“All the grills are under warranty and designed to be used hundreds of times,” he said.
Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post
The Shed is a new sharing economy company that is setting up shop in Denver.Consumers can get extra grilling capacity for a one-time event, like a graduation party, without making a major purchase or hiring a caterer, which would be more expensive. And if they are in the market for a grill, they can test drive one before buying.
“We will have our logos on the grill,” Roberts said. “That is the beauty of it for me from a marketing standpoint.”
While manufacturers and retailers will get half the rental fee, the public will get a 30% cut, Gottwald said. Items will cost roughly one-fourteenth the cost of buying them new, but that can shift depending on demand.
The company expects to focus on tools and hardware, travel items like luggage, home appliances, sporting goods, party and event items, lawn and garden items, music and electronics, and industrial equipment.
There is a long list of items it won’t take: clothing, shoes, linens, mattresses, rugs, toys, computers, glassware and plates, baby strollers, video games, movies and any consumable items.
And please don’t think of dropping off the Christmas tree and decorations in January and taking them back in November. If items don’t rent enough, they will be returned to their owners, Gottwald said.
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