Christchurch school leaver starts storage firm aimed at student market

Kepridge Storage co-founders Henry Stuthridge and Omri Kepes (right). Photo / Supplied

Christchurch school leaver Omri Kepes is following in his family's footsteps, starting a short-term storage business targeting university students.

Kepes, who is the son of Cactus Outdoor founder Ben Kepes, started the firm with school friend Henry Stuthridge. The pair have been running Kepridge Storage for over a year.

In its first year in business Kepridge Storage made $40,000 in sales revenue, and is expecting revenue next year to be 10 times that at around $400,000.

The firm says the opportunity was great, with in Christchurch alone up to 15,000 students who are studying at the University of Canterbury who did not live in the region.

Last year it provided storage services for almost 100 students in Christchurch and Wellington. This year, a few weeks ago it expanded into Dunedin.

Co-founder Omri Kepes, 20, says the business had received a good response and hit its targets. "We saw last year as testing the waters to see if it was received well and if people would actually want this.

"The great thing about something like this is it is a service so being close to the demographic is good for us because we know what our customers want and need and we can see if it works because ultimately they'll come back again next year," said Kepes.

"The first year went really well, we hit our targets, and this year we have our eyes set on Dunedin - is going to be a massive market for us."

Kepes says there are about 17,000 students in Dunedin to study who did not live in Otago, who could potentially need storage.

It is aiming for 850 sales across New Zealand in this financial year, equivalent to around $400,000 in sales revenue.

Kepridge Storage sub-leases storage units from an unnamed commercial storage firm. That had enabled the business to expand quickly without having to purchase its own storage facility, said Kepes.

"Students typically head off at the end of university around November and they'll come back around February, March so they usually only need three to four months [of storage] which is a market that most storage companies don't want to target because it is only that three to four months."

The business was founded with almost no capital, and is being run as a cashflow positive business. "Everyone purchases the storage earlier in the year, around this time of the year, [which enables us] to offer our customers split payments to pay per week or per month rather than an upfront sum, so that means by the time we go to their place to pick up their stuff and put it in storage, they have already paid for most of that, which means we have been able to use that money to market to get more sales," Kepes said.

"We're always in the green and as long as we're managing the business properly in theory it shouldn't tip over."

Next year Kepridge Storage plans to focus on expanding the business outside the student market, targeting the commercial logistics and the third-party space. "That is dominated by a whole heap of big players - there aren't a whole heap of young guys coming in with new ideas that we can potentially offer, things that others may overlook."

Kepes and Stuthridge are both mentored by Ben Kepes of Christchurch-based clothing and apparel company Cactus Outdoor.

Kepes splits his time running Kepridge Storage and working in merchandising for Cactus.

"Coming off a good year last year and seeing that momentum flow into this year is so exciting for both of us knowing that people want what we can provide."