San Luis Obispo Tribune: SLO’s ‘Meathead’ Is Moving Up In The World

By Raven J. Riley
Telegram Tribune
January 24, 2002

A small moving company in San Luis Obispo has big plans for expansion.

Meathead Movers is opening a second office, adding trucks to its fleet and planning to double its work force by summer, said Aaron Steed, Chief Executive Officer of the company he started with his brother Evan five years ago.

The first step was renting a 1,600 square foot suite in the Crossroads Center on Broad Street this month.

“We’re separating all our administrative work from the location where the crews get checked in and checked out,” Steed said.

About 12 administrative workers, who handle tasks like accounting and job sales, work from the new location, which is right up the street from the original 1,500 square foot warehouse at 950 Orcutt Rd.

The company is also buying five new Freightliner trucks at $55,000 each. The new office is adding $2,400 a month in rent to Meathead’s expenses.

Steed said the expansion is necessary to accommodate the company’s increased business. Without giving specific sales figures, he said revenue last year was up more than 600 percent from the year before.

The company, which concentrates on hiring athletes, currently employs 63 workers. When the peak summer season hits, Steed expects to have a work force of close to 120 movers. With a territory that extends from Paso Robles to Lompoc, Meathead is now targeting business in the Santa Maria area. “Nobody really knows about us in Santa Maria,” Steed said.

Eventually, he hopes to use the prototype he is creating in San Luis Obispo to set up franchised warehouses in other parts of the country.