The Seattle Times article: "Movers aim to unpack warm feelings of home" Feb. 22, 2009
I read in last Sunday’s edition of “The Seattle Times “, in the Job Market section (and no, I was not job hunting, I read Daneen Skube’s weekly column “Interpersonal Edge “) and there I found an interesting article on a growing niche moving service. This moving service specializes in working with Seniors who need to down size, moving from their homes filled with a lifetime of possessions, to smaller, more manageable homes.
In the article by Thomas Heath: “
Movers aim to unpack warm feeling of home “ Heath writes that these movers are specializing in helping Seniors to minimize the sad reality of moving from their home, with all it’s familiar furnishings and memories, to a smaller place that simply cannot accommodate all their treasures.
These movers known as “Move Management Consultants“, help not only with the physical move, but can also help with determining what to keep and more. Everyone knows how stressful packing up and moving can be, then when you add the stress of downsizing from 2400sf (or more) to a 900sf (or less) condo or apt. and experiencing the sense of loss that comes from having to get rid of many familiar and beloved things, it becomes overwhelming.
The article is very interesting with all the services that the Move Management Consultants offer their aging clients, it looks to be a very good, and much needed service to help a growing segment of the population. Unfortunately after Googling “Move Management Consultant” for the Seattle area, I found no local businesses. That is too bad, the article said there were about 500 businesses offering these types of services, but apparently none in Seattle to help Seniors to move. The company who the article was written about, “
Transitional Assistance and Design “, is based in Maryland.
So entrepreneurs in Seattle, here is a great idea for an opportunity to help Seniors with their downsizing move !
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Update: Christy Urdel from
NextStep Transitions stopped by and left a comment to let me know about her Seattle Specialty Moving Company and 8 others, so check out the comments for more. Thank you Christy!
Hi- found your blog and wanted to comment on the lack of Move Managers in Seattle. There are actually a number of us in Seattle. NextStep Transitions, Assisted Transitions, Moving Forward, Segue, Eliminate Chaos, too name a few. Last time I checked there were 9 of us that belonged to the National Association of Senior Managers (NASMM) I come from a Transportation background where I manager moving companies and then started NextStep over 2 years ago. Because its such a new industry people don’t know how to google us very well yet because they don’t know we are here. So we spend many hours with our web designers and SEO people trying to figure out how best to get our message out.
I work with anyone that is moving; seniors to retirement, boomers to condo’s, busy families and relocating execs.
Thank you for your blog – lets hope people start to discover us.
Hi Christy,
I am really glad you stopped by to let me know about your company (NextStep Transition http://www.nextsteptransitions.com/ ), and the others. That was very fair and generous of you to list them as well.
I really was surprised that I could not find any specialty movers in Seattle, it seems like such a valuable service.
I am going to contact you about how you might improve your online visibility.
Thank you for letting us know Christy!
Hi Deborah-
Thanks so much for the call – I’d call you back but I’ve kind of lost my voice between coughing spells! Would love to talk to you more and get to know you. A large portion of work I get comes from realtors who have clients that need some home transition assistance so I’d like to follow up with you on that.
Hopefully, I’ll be normal next week and will give you a call back. You are on my list. I am very interested to hear your ideas.
Best to you
Christy
Christy
Hi Christy,
Looking forward to talking with you.
Have a good weekend!
~Deborah