Poughkeepsie-based Arnoff Moving & Storage relocated 2,500 businesses last year, having sprung from the rags-to-riches world of Horatio Alger.
Arnoff began via second-hand scrappiness with a lone man, Abraham Arnoff, making the lonely truck run across northwest Connecticut from New Haven to Lakeville in 1924. “He had what you”™d call a junk business,” his great, great grandson Dan Arnoff said without a hint of disparagement. “Then he began doing favors, moving some furniture along his route. That”™s how it started.” Arnoff is the company”™s business development manager.
Today”™s contracts range from two desks to the Central Hudson Electric and Gas service and repair headquarters to entire college dorms.
In 1946, Arnoff became an agent for American Van Lines. Today, the company employs 200 to 250 people at its headquarters in Poughkeepsie (where about 110 work), at another moving center in Albany, in Lakeville, and at a shipping center in Great Barrington, Mass., that packs and crates and then acts to secure shipping.
The company does additional steady work for a number of school districts and universities; Arnoff has been known to empty entire dormitories. “We do this kind of work steadily ”“ we may empty an entire 600-student dorm for renovations,” said Daniel Arnoff, great, great grandson to Abraham. Academic clients include the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Bard College at Simon”™s Rock in Great Barrington, Mass., and in New York: Dutchess BOCES, Vassar College and the State University of New York at New Paltz. For more than 50 years, IBM has contracted Arnoff for moving needs.
Those about to move and those in the process can find themselves in a void: What do I know about properly stacking books? Who knew the desks were screwed to the floor?
Arnoff continually revises its shipping proposals in two respects: that which is boilerplate and that which is specific to the client.
“We are constantly updating the forms,” Arnoff said. “It lets clients know specifically what their responsibilities will be on moving day and what our responsibilities will be.”
A recent proposal to a school ”“ unnamed for reasons of contract confidentiality ”“ specified how the process begins:
“Approximately one week prior to the start of the move, our relocation supervisor will meet with a representative to outline the plan of procedures and to review the office planning and color coding techniques.
“Your representative will use grid sheets to prepare the office layouts and make use of different colored stickers to segregate office furniture and equipment.”
The proposal begins with Arnoff ”“ five generations of the family name on the line ”“ citing the company ethos above his signature: “Arnoff Moving & Storage has the professional capabilities to provide a smooth, efficient relocation as well as being cost-effective.”
An Arnoff specialty lies antipodal to grid sheets and color codes: the tricky shipment of a single piece. “We do a lot of work between Manhattan and Hudson with single-moves ”“ typically an antique.” Across the state line: “We ship in Connecticut every day.” Arnoff spoke from the company”™s 1282 Dutchess Turnpike location.
For business relocations, Arnoff provides both a coordinator and a supervisor.
In the words of a specific proposal shared by Arnoff: “It is our intent to provide you with a relocation supervisor who will oversee your move from start to finish, ensuring the finest service available. Our relocation supervisor is a regular member of our management team and not a worker acting in a temporary supervisory capacity. This lead team player will have full authority and responsibility for your move, assignment equipment and personnel necessary to accomplish the job and will report to your move coordinator.”
Arnoff said some of the language of the contracts is boilerplate, but “a lot of what we do is customized for the specific client.”
Among the tips to make things run smoothly: Don”™t pack cartons too full or to overflowing. Use an extra carton instead.
And if on moving day, thoughts turn to an invasion of strong-backed efficiency experts, that is exactly the point:
“Don”™t forget that we maneuver these moves with split-second timing. Every bit of cooperation you can give the person responsible for this move will help our movers complete their work efficiently. Do not fail to assist Arnoff personnel in packing and labeling.”
