As a franchise operator of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Calgary’s Dave Harrop thought he’d just be hauling away other people’s garbage–not bona fide treasures that would lead to a lucrative lifestyle.
He once picked up 50 boxes of books which were bound for the paper recyclers. Looking inside one, he found early editions of three books by Charles Dickens.
Harrop’s find is not as uncommon as it may seem, says company spokesman Christopher Bennett.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? is a Vancouver-based company that began 16 years ago as a one-man operation carting off people’s unwanted stuff. It now expects to have 250 franchises throughout North America by the end of 2006.
The business is the brainchild of CEO Brian Scudamore. Clad in slacks and a sweater over a T-shirt, the 35-year-old Scudamore is far from the image of a corporate suit.
“We’re creating the FedEx of the junk removal industry,” he said in a coffee shop near his Vancouver headquarters. He began the company as a way to pay his way through college. In 1999, Scudamore developed the franchising model based on the name1-800-GOT-JUNK?.
