Stasher is Building What It Calls An Airbnb For Luggage, Opens in LA
Stasher, the innovative luggage storage solution that has been helping worldwide travelers lighten their loads, is now set to convenience thousands of tourists abroad after it launched a range of StashPoints in Los Angeles.
So far, eight businesses have signed-up to the Stasher network, providing luggage storage options near all major tourist attractions and transport hubs, such as LAX Airport, Downtown LA, and the Hollywood area.
Positioning itself as the “Airbnb of luggage”, Stasher is particularly convenient for those who book the earliest flight to their destination and the latest flight back to make the most of their time away. However, the problem with an early check-out often means lugging a suitcase around.
Or does it?
That’s where Stasher comes in. Customers booking via the Stasher website, pay online, then drop the bags off. The service is one of the cheapest bag storage options at just $6 per day. This works out cheaper than competitors that include train station storage lockers and local luggage storage options.
The holy grail for a disruptive business is to tackle an everyday problem that no one has done anything about. Like many of the best start-up stories, the idea for bag storage startup Stasher came to its co-founders by accident: a friend asked to store their bags at Anthony Collias’ house, and he jokingly asked for money. That was the lightbulb moment.
From there the co-founders started to approach local businesses and hotels to leverage their unused space for storage, thereby acting as a cheaper alternative for travelers than lockers.
Jacob Wedderburn-Day, Stasher CEO and Co-Founder commented on the recent expansion to the US:
“We’ve wanted to move into the US for a while, and are extremely proud to have reached our goal. We are now live across Europe, Australia and Asia, and this quick growth is a testament to the demand for our offering. 2019 is shaping up to be a great year for us already, and we are excited to grow our LA network and expand into more American cities over the coming months. It’s great to be helping out tourists, whilst giving businesses in Los Angeles a way to earn an additional stream of income.”
Stasher’s hosts earn revenue from every bag stored (some earned more than $25,000 last year), whilst they also benefit from a boosted footfall and are able to attract new customers by showcasing all that they off to offer to the Stasher clientele. With around 40% of Stasher customers making additional purchases at drop-off/ pick-up, the revenue from bags stored is often just the tip of the iceberg.
Over a two hundred fifty-thousand bags have been successfully stashed in total via the Stasher network across the network. This number is set to increase as the business expands into additional cities over the coming months, helping out even more laden-down tourists and day-trippers. As travel habits transform with the advent of Airbnb, Stasher certainly looks to be in a strong position.
LAStartups.com is a digital lifestyle publication that covers the culture of startups and technology companies in Los Angeles. It is the go-to site for people who want to keep up with what matters in Los Angeles’ tech and startups from those who know the city best.
