Boulder residents are constantly on the move.
Whether it’s students moving in and out of dorm rooms by the tide of the academic year, transplant Boulderites new to the area moving into their new home, or local start-up businesses moving on up to larger office spaces, there are moving vans, trucks, and dollies galore here in Boulder.
Many Boulderites have been through the hassle of trying to hire an expensive moving company, have experienced pleading with friends to help unload belongings into a new place (how can everyone I know possibly all have dentist appointments on the same day?), or have sweat through the lugging of bookcases, dressers, and couches from A to B, C to D, and all the way to Z.
Luckily for Boulderites, Bellhops is an extremely convenient, practical solution to these moving woes, and they operate right here in town. Bellhops, a national company, contracts college students ready to be your helping hand no matter what type of labor-intensive move you’re making.
“We are the step in between begging your friends and booking a traditional moving company,” said David Martin, Communications Manager at Bellhops. Innovative and cost-effective, Bellhops provides mobilized labor services tailored specifically to you and your move, no matter the scale.
A relatively young company, Bellhops began as “Campus Bellhops” at Auburn University as the company’s founders realized that the most frustrating part of the college experience was often moving into campus dormitories at the beginning of each fall semester. The Bellhops founders began helping other college students move into their dorm rooms and, after a successful first year at Auburn, they rolled out their college-students-helping-college-students platform to other large universities in the southeastern United States, including Georgia and Clemson. From there, Bellhops grew to include off-campus moving assistance as well, and, today, Bellhops has a presence in over 130 markets across the country.
When looking to expand into a new market, Bellhops looks for towns with large universities that will garner equally large student populations to be contracted as Bellhops Movers. Boulder fits this bill perfectly, and the Boulder Bellhops location currently contracts approximately 50 students. In addition to their customer service focus, the goal of Bellhops is to “connect athletic, go-getter college students to moving and lifting jobs,” said David Martin. Their mission is extremely student-centered, and Bellhops strives to go above and beyond to ensure the present and future successes of its Bellhops Movers.
Bellhops only contracts college students who are actively enrolled in a university to be Bellhops Movers, whether they are participating in an undergraduate or graduate program.
“Bellhopping is meant to be the coolest college job possible,” said David Martin. Bellhops Movers go through a rigorous background check process and are continuously ranked by both their peers and their clients on each and every move they participate in, so customers can be assured that it’s only the most top notch Bellhops who are assisting them with their move.
When Bellhops Movers show up for a job, they are polite, punctual, positive, and ready to get down to business. Even though Bellhops as a whole has seen a decrease in on-campus moves over the years, becoming more focused on residential moves and projects such as property staging for real estate companies and business moves, the company still keeps its student-centered focus by ensuring their Bellhops gain leadership and management skills, tangible work ethic, and a living resume of feedback and comments on their job performance to use going forward into the professional world post-graduation.
Matt Simonson, the Bellhops Boulder Campus Director, first got involved with Bellhops after hearing about it through one of his fraternity brothers. “Bellhops is a great company and an easy company to work for,” said Simonson, noting that, in a college-centric town such as Boulder, “There are always students ready to work.”
With such a youthful workforce, much of Bellhops’s appeal also comes from how quick and convenient it is both for clients and for the Bellhops Movers to book and claim jobs in the local area. Self-described as the “Uber of moving,” Bellhops operates on an electronic platform via a computer or mobile app.
Once a client makes a request for moving assistance, Bellhops within that area are notified and can claim that they’d like to work that job. This is extremely convenient for Bellhops’s contracted college students, as they can choose jobs that fit with their schedule, can claim extra jobs when they want to make a little bit of extra money, and can be in control of their own workday.
With their signature green headbands and tees, Bellhops likewise has a strong social media presence that they are looking to ramp up even more in the near future. From a fun and playful Youtube channel filled with informational videos and promos to a Pinterest site littered with moving tips and tricks, and from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, a Bellhops Blog, and beyond, Bellhops prides itself on being a company that is marketed mainly through positive word of mouth and that college students are proud to work for and want to be invested in. All you have to do is search the hashtag #headbandheroes to see Tweets and posts from clients, employees, and more, lauding Bellhops on their awesome service, their positive attitudes, and their exceptionally convenient moving assistance.
Bellhops not only provides a unique and practical service to all its markets, including Boulder, but also does it with the best intentions for their college student contractors in mind. For more information or if you need moving assistance in the greater Boulder area anytime soon, check out the Bellhops website here.
