Business moving in right direction

MOVING ON UP: Coutu Bros. Moving & Storage CEO Robert Romano, foreground, at the company’s new 8,000-square-foot storage facility, which was opened in September. The business has expanded to include moves on the entire East Coast. Also pictured are employees Rob Romeo Jr., left, and Delon Hutton. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
MOVING ON UP: Coutu Bros. Moving & Storage CEO Robert Romano, foreground, at the company’s new 8,000-square-foot storage facility, which was opened in September. The business has expanded to include moves on the entire East Coast. Also pictured are employees Rob Romeo Jr., left, and Delon Hutton. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Robert Romano has always worked in the service industry, so being both the CEO of Coutu Bros. Moving and Storage and the guy who runs the forklift in his new storage warehouse doesn’t faze him.
Coutu Bros. expanded the moving business to storage last fall with the acquisition of the 8,000-square-foot building that houses offices and a warehouse, relocating the business from 133 Central St. to 2 Greco Lane, two blocks away, in Warwick.
Romano, now 47, started a limo company right after high school, followed that with a florist shop he ran with his wife, Marie, until it closed in 1995, and was a meat cutter at a Sam’s Club in Warwick, then an estimator for his brother’s moving company, until that company closed in 1999.
About that time, Coutu Bros., then in Pawtucket and established in 1940, was listed in the paper for sale. Romano bought it.
“It’s been around for so long, I just kept the name,” he said.
While not sure of the origins of that name, Romano said, Coutu Bros. today is actually a family business. Besides Romano, his daughter, Jerilyn, is operations manager and two sons, Robert Jr. and Michael, are laborers. In addition, John Andrade, the company’s fleet manager, is a longtime friend.
Personalized customer service is central to Romano’s work ethic, and includes basics like training employers to “give the best moving experience possible. Moving is very stressful, so to give the customer-service level we give and keep them calm throughout the moving process: that’s what I like. You’re actually helping them transition their life and have a good experience.”
Though the company does both commercial and residential jobs, the latter constitutes 75 percent of the business, he said.
A key policy includes “short notice” moves that allow customers to get moved within 24 hours of calling, based on availability, instead of having to wait three to five days, which is how long many of Romano’s competitors require, Romano said.
“I saw a need out there, where people were calling last minute and they were telling me all these big van lines needed three to five day’s notice, so I thought, ‘Why not get them what they want?’ ” And unlike some of those competitors, Romano says the firm is open on Saturdays at regular rates, and charges overtime rates on Sundays only.
Building on the strong reputation of the company he bought, Romano realized recently that there was strong demand for storage rentals, and his Central Street office space couldn’t accommodate it. Now that he has purchased the building at an undisclosed price, those month-to-month rentals constitute 40 percent of the business, with 75 of the 100 units in use and room for another 50 in the 7,500-square-foot warehouse, he said.
The warehouse contains 5-by-8-foot containers that are stacked double high with a forklift. The containers are sealed on all four sides and housed in the building, which makes them more secure, he said. The building is climate-controlled and alarmed.
Coutu Bros.’ territory covers all of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but the company does move clients across the country, particularly along the East Coast, Romano said.
Some of the challenges of running the business have included unexpected changes to moving dates, which have increased as the economy falters.
“We find a lot of closing dates are pushed back at the last minute … there could be bank issues or inspection issues,” he said. “A customer might lose a job a couple days before closing and the bank pulls the plug on the deal.”
But everyday challenges are typically those common to most businesses, he added: the high cost of operations, labor and insurance.
While keeping both segments of the business going, growth of the storage business is part of Romano’s business strategy. He hopes to buy a second storage building to accommodate demand, since he has already used half his space in less than a year of opening the warehouse.
“Purchasing the storage building was a huge endeavor for me, because it was a big acquisition and added a whole revenue stream, so that was a big leap for me,” he said, “but it worked out great.” •

COMPANY PROFILE
Coutu Bros. Moving & Storage
OWNER: Robert Romano, CEO
TYPE OF BUSINESS: moving and storage
LOCATION: 2 Greco Lane, Warwick
EMPLOYEES: 14
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1940
ANNUAL SALES: $750,000

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