Combining market-savvy entrepreneurship with a social mission in the “green” movement in America, an Irvington couple plans to turn their startup company in White Plains into a nationally franchised retail brand for persons on the go.
At Rack & Go, a vehicle outfitting store at 10 Robertson Ave., “Our underlying social mission is to educate people about green car travel,” said co-owner Steven M. Frind. He and his wife, Leslie Danon, recently opened the store with five employees in a former Honda dealer”™s showroom across from the Westchester County Center.
Their trade in cargo racks, storage bags and other travel accessories is allied with the evolving hybrid-vehicle market. Frind calls their arrangement with local auto dealerships, which provide gas-and-electric-powered cars and SUVs on which to showcase Rack&Go”™s line of Thule, Yakima and Inno products, the “Go Network.” The vehicle outfitter in turn refers customers to participating dealers ”“ including BMW, Mazda, Mercury, Nissan, Toyota and Rack&Go”™s landlord, Honda.
As part of the company”™s Go Green incentive, owners who already drive hybrid vehicles receive a 15 percent discount on product purchases and free installation on those vehicles.
The batteries used to power electric motors in hybrid cars reduce trunk space, which increases the need for cargo carriers, Frind noted. “So hybrid cars and cargo management are going to fit hand in hand going forward,” he said.
Working with a Long Island designer, Frind developed a marketing package and brand logo built upon the catchword “Go.” The company”™s hybrid marketing combines a familiar appeal to Americans to take to “The Open Road,” with its alluring suggestion of endless opportunities, as Frind noted, with consumer education about eco-friendly automotive technologies.
“Our goal is that next time you”™re in a car-buying decision-making case, you”™ll consider buying a hybrid car,” Frind said. Or, as the company”™s mission statement reads in part on Rack&Go gift cards, “Our planet”™s tank is on empty ”¦ Go Green.”
“We promote road travel, but we”™re saying, do it in an environmentally responsible way. There”™s a great synergy there. There”™s also an opportunity to educate people,” Frind said.
“We”™ve been working on the concept for over a year,” said Frind, who for several years worked in the apparel and footwear industry. “We came up with the ”˜Rack&Go”™ about eight months ago.
“We wanted to build a brand rather than just open a store.”
Â
The brand”™s open-road logo appears, too, on a private-label line of casual clothing and tote bags made of organic materials such as cotton and hemp. Those are sold on store racks beside “Green Cars Are Good” plastic bracelets and T-shirts. A percentage of proceeds from clothing sales and all proceeds from the $1 bracelets will be donated to the company”™s Green Car Initiative, for which Frind is creating a nonprofit foundation.
As another part of business with a social mission, Frind said he is working with an illustrator on a line of children”™s books featuring a character named “Gary Green Car.” “I think the kids”™ books could be a great tool to raise awareness,” he said. “A lot of times the impetus for people to change comes through their kids. Think of how many parents picked up an iPod because of their kids.”
The partners hope the Rack&Go brand will come to be recognized nationwide as other entrepreneurs open franchise stores and “spread our educational goals and our environmental mission,” Frind said. He said he has already received calls from interested parties in Portland, OR., and Denver.
From customers, “The reaction we get more than any other reaction is, ”˜How many other stores do you have?”™ We”™re really a mom and pop, but we look like a national store. We feel that our store is a national one.”
“Our plan is to grow organically. We want to make sure that we”™ve got a good concept. We”™re not committed to being big. We”™re committed to being good and to being green. We”™ll only grow under certain parameters,” he said.
Frind said they would like to open corporate stores in northern New Jersey, Fairfield County, Conn., and on Long Island. They plan to focus on the I-95 corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C., looking for “high-traffic, family-oriented areas with outdoor-active people” and preferably located near car dealerships and regional malls.
“We think we have a concept that”™s unique in the country,” Frind said. “We”™ve had other people tell us likewise. Certainly our green car platform is really unique. And we”™re going to embark on a number of other initiatives that will make us totally unique.”
Frind said the company plans to launch a garage-management service next spring in Westchester, Rockland and Fairfield counties and northern New Jersey. The company will outfit home garages.
“It”™s a big thing now, garage management,” he said. “But we”™ll be the first retailer who will offer that service.”
The partners also plan a spring start for a “green detailing” service at the White Plains store and from a mobile unit, offering a “virtually waterless exterior wash” for private and municipal vehicles and “totally organic” interior cleaning that uses no toxic chemicals, Frind said.
With a startup, “You live and breathe your brand,” Frind said. “It”™s our baby. It”™s challenging. It”™s stressful. It”™s scary. But on the other hand, there”™s nothing so fulfilling as it is to start and create your own business.”
Â
