The Tribune: Meathead Movers to Relocate, Expand

Biz Buzz: Meathead Movers to relocate, expand
Storage space and corporate offices are planned for the new location in south SLO

Meathead Movers is making its own move to a new location and expanding its services in San Luis Obispo.

Demolition of the former 84 Lumber building is under way at 3600 S. Higuera St., said Aaron Steed, chief executive officer and president of Meathead Movers.

The company purchased the six-acre property and accompanying 17,500-square-foot building in April 2008 to open a mini-storage business.

The plans also include building a 7,000-square-foot corporate office.

The current San Luis Obispo headquarters is located at 144 Hind Lane. Camarillo is home to a second branch office.

“We’re in the process of revising the site plan right now,’’ said Steed, adding that an opening date has not been determined. “We’re still making fine tweaks to it.”

The upstairs of the new office building will include the company’s corporate call center, which will serve as the administrative arm for its branches.

The company’s management team will oversee the storage units, Steed said, eliminating the need to hire a third party to manage that aspect of the business.

Steed noted that the addition of a mini-storage business makes sense because it is “a perfect complement to Meathead Movers.”

“A lot of our clients need storage when they’re moving,’’ he said.

He hopes, too, that the project will help stimulate the economy by putting local people to work. Rarig Construction, based in San Luis Obispo, is the general contractor, Steed said.

Meathead Movers was founded in 1997 by Steed and his brother, Evan, and now employs about 160 people.

The firm expects to hire a few more people with the expansion. The company’s Web site says the business handles more than 2,000 moves a year in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

— Julie Lynem