Second-hand store taking its first crack at expansion
Nicholas Griner | StaffDan Shuman (left) and Brad Bondroff leased retail space in Baltimore City.
A Baltimore company is expanding its used furniture business by selling couches, beds and dressers to people who need to furnish their homes on the cheap.
The Asset Store, a company that buys furniture hotels are replacing, is boosting its retail operations by opening a new store on North Howard Street in Baltimore City and another location in Prince George's County next month. The company also plans to add new stores in Northern Virginia and Philadelphia as part of a plan to double its revenue and add as many as 15 new staffers this year, said CEO Dan Shuman.
The Asset Store, which is trying to acquire competitors in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic, plans to pay for its latest expansion with venture funding it landed in January. The venture round was a "typical" angel round, which can net between $300,000 to $1 million, said Mark Walsh, managing director of Ruxton Ventures, a Washington, D.C., venture firm that participated in the funding.
"The Asset Store has carved out a strong business niche in a not-so-sexy industry," said Walsh, a logistics industry veteran.
Shuman and his partner, Brad Bondroff, started the liquidation company in early 2004. Shuman and Bondroff, who serves as president, hauled furniture from 500 rooms at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore last year during the hotel's renovation. The used furniture was resold on the Internet, but 10 percent to 20 percent of the merchandise was left in the Asset Store's warehouse.
Shuman and Bondroff opened a retail division, dubbed Overstock Outlet, to sell the remaining items. Overstock Outlet customers are usually lower-income people and college students looking for a cheap way to furnish their apartments, Shuman said.
The company, which employs 40, works with a Baltimore outreach program, People Encouraging People Inc., to help people recovering from metal illness, substance abuse or homelessness to furnish an apartment for about $500, Shuman said.
