Zippy Shell Today
Zippy Shell Incorporated is a portable storage and moving company, based out of Georgetown, Washington, D.C. It is the fastest growing franchise business in both the storage and moving industries. Zippy Shell was recognized for its innovative franchise business model in June 2015, as the company received a $25 million capital investment from Virgo LLC. Zippy Shell is comprised of a strong team of board members who have established themselves as leaders in the moving and storage industries.
Our History
Zippy Shell began in Australia in 2007 by founder Gareth Taylor and Adam Gilchrist. Zippy Shell was one of Australia's first mobile storage businesses to operate in the country. It operated for two years, building a customer base of over 500 customers before being sold as a ‘Master Franchise’ to Grace Removals Group, one of Asia’s largest moving companies.
In 2010 Zippy Shell USA, LLC launched in the United States. The previous success of the company in Australia was a clear indicator that the business model would work in the United States. The service remains competitive with the simple formula - give the convenience of portable storage at the cost of traditional. Zippy Shell USA, LLC became incorporated as of June 2015 and now is formally identified as Zippy Shell Incorporated.
Our Motto
We like to keep things simple. We deliver a storage container to you and your stuff gets loaded. All you'll need is 2-3 days and then we'll pick up your shell and store it safely. Need something from your shell or to have it delivered to your new place? Give us a call and we will deliver your stuff back to you. It's as easy as that.
Mack McNair | Chairman of the Board
Mack has over twenty years of experience in the private credit markets and special situations investing. Prior to joining Virgo, Mack was responsible for investment activities ranging from senior debt through equity for the Principal Finance Group at Silver Point Capital, where he worked with several Virgo team members. At Silver Point, Mack led the private side investing business for the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Jim S. Simpson | Board Member
Jim Simpson is recognized as a prolific leader in the transportation industry having served President George W. Bush, as the national spokesperson for public transportation policy and safety, as the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. He also served the Governor and State of New Jersey for four and a half years, as the Commissioner of Transportation at the Department of Transportation and Chairman of New Jersey Transit. Additionally, Simpson served as Commissioner of the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority for New York’s Governor for ten years.
Mark Kuhns | Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Kuhns has over 25 years experience launching and growing direct-to-consumer e-commerce businesses. Most recently, Mr. Kuhns was hired by private equity firm Dominus Capital and led the transformation of On Campus Marketing (OCM.com) into the worlds largest marketing and e-commerce platform serving college. During this time, OCM net revenue and EBITDA doubled leading to a successful exit at 10x EBITDA. At Under Armour, Mr. Kuhns served as corporate Vice President and was responsible for leading and architecting the award winning e-commerce and digital platform (UA.com). During this time UA.com grew from $4 million in new revenue to over $100 million. Prior to that Mr. Kuhns served as Managing Director of Marketing and e-commerce at US Airways where he led the successful re-launch of usairways.com growing from $600 million to over $1.2 billion per year. Mr. Kuhns was also in charge of several key transformation initiatives which resulted in a merger with America West. Prior to that, Mr. Kuhns served as Chief Operating Officer at TACA Airlines in El Salvador where he led all aspects of the company and the successful launch of the companies first e-commerce platform TACA.com Prior thereto, Mr. Kuhns held various management positions at Accenture Consulting and United Parcel Service.
Gareth Taylor | President and COO
From December 2007 to June 2009, Mr. Taylor was a co-founder and CEO of Zippy Shell Storage Systems in Australia, where he was responsible for the development of the business system and growth of the business. He negotiated and sold a country-wide Zippy Shell Master Franchise License to Grace Removal Group, one of Australia’s largest moving companies, in 2009. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Taylor served as an Associate Director at Marakon Associates where he advised senior-level executives at Fortune 100 Companies such as Textron Corporation, Alcan, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche. Mr. Taylor served in the role of Manager at Huron Consulting Group and Associate at Lehman Brothers Holding. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (2001) and a B.Sc. from the University of New South Wales Australia in 1995.
Proud Sponsors of the Circle of Excellence Conference
The Circle of Excellence is a quarterly conference that takes place at the Zippy Shell headquarters. The conference is expected to provide thought-leadership and strategic initiatives that will enhance the company’s business model. For more information, contact our team.
