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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Packed Up And Ready To Go

Many fast growing companies are in the computer industry, selling online or doing something else high tech. Not NorthStar Moving Corp. It’s all about the sweat. The Chatsworth company hires beefy guys to lift heavy furniture, carry it into a truck and haul to another address. Yet the company generated $8.88 million in revenue last year. That was a 27 percent increase since 2009 and enough to make it the No. 38 company on the Business Journal’s list of Fastest Growing Private Companies. So, how is that possible? Well, you might call NorthStar the Lloyd’s of London of the moving industry. Lloyd’s will insure anything for a price. Northstar will move anything. “We’ll do anything for our clients,” said co-founder Laura McHolm. “Once, we had someone call us at 2:30 in the morning and ask that we come over to move a chair from the dining room to the living room. And we did it. We have A-list clients and we’ll send out decoy trucks to divert the paparazzi. We’ll do whatever it takes.” The company’s luxury packages come with market-ready names such as the Angelina, which provides parents with a nanny while they move; and the Toto, which ferries pets to their new residences. The packages are often performed in conjunction with other businesses. NorthStar’s usual rates are $140 an hour for a three-man job, higher than the industry’s average of about $100. A luxury move can run as high as $80,000. The marketing savvy of may be unusual for a mover, but McHolm had previous marketing experience when she and partner Ram Katalan founded the company in 1994. “ He’s very good at logistics. I had a background in marketing, and it helps me think outside the box when it comes to moving,” McHolm said.” – Kelly Goff

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