Franchisee: Jose Martinez | Junk King | 5 Murad St., Cranston
The pitch: Junk King offers full-service furniture and appliance removal, either for recycling or for donations. The company also offers customers dumpster rentals.
Years in business: Opened Dec. 15, 2020
Employees: Three
Cost to obtain franchise: $54,000-$78,000 initial fee; $86,950-$175,440 total investment
Before opening franchise: Martinez has worked in the corporate sector for 14 years and is currently transitioning out of it. He has worked for Care New England Health System as a supervisor of credentialling.
Reason for opening: Martinez said his brother, who works for another franchise – 1-800 Got Junk, told him about Junk King and encouraged him to acquire a Junk King franchise location.
“I always wanted to own my own business. I always wanted to be my own boss to a certain degree. If I’m going to take the leap, it might as well be now. With everything that is going on, if I can make this work now, I can make it work anytime.”
“Seeing the face of someone who lost it all … seeing that reaction from someone who has been [through] something so dramatic, it pays off everything and more. That’s what we do.”
“We had a lady who lost everything in a fire, and she was basically starting from scratch. We heard the story through our local church. We had dining sets and bedroom sets in very good condition, and we donated that [to her].”
Franchise owners interested in being included in an upcoming Franchisee feature can contact PBN Researcher James Bessette at (401) 680-4838 or Research@PBN.com.