There are so many new parents in the mile-square city that fulfilling their needs is an entrepreneur’s dream. Hoboken residents Aaron and Jamie Wessner, parents of a 1-year-old daughter, have hopped on the bandwagon — or Volkswagen or station wagon, perhaps.
In December they launched roofboxtogo.com, an e-commerce rental business in rooftop cargo boxes for cars.
“Because of the parking situation in Hoboken a lot of people have cars, not SUVs,” said Aaron. “If you go on a road trip with the baby, a ski trip with buddies, golf trips, beach trips, trips to Grandma, car trunks fill up fast, and you need extra space. Basically we’re filling a gap in the market.”
“A young family like ourselves in Hoboken with a 1-year-old is a logical customer.”— Aaron Wessner
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The Wessners have day jobs. Jamie is a speech therapist and Aaron works in finance in the city. “From an ownership perspective I’ve always been a bit of an entrepreneur,” Aaron said last week. “It was a logical business to go into given the need. A young family like ourselves in Hoboken with a 1-year-old is a logical customer.”
Targeting locals online
With the blessing of Jamie, Aaron ran the numbers and put together a business model. “Jamie is active in a Hoboken new mommies group,” Aaron said. “A bunch of new mommies, 50 to 100 on Facebook and Yahoo, that’s how we launched the site.”
The primary manufacturers of cargo boxes are Thule and Yakima. “We have a handful to launch the business,” said Aaron. “We keep some at home and in a storage facility as well.”
The boxes can fit on any vehicle with a roof rack. For an extra fee, roofboxtogo will provide the cross bars. They’ll also help you affix the box to the rack. The boxes, which can be locked, weigh about 40 pounds.
The company prefers a week’s notice but can accommodate last-minute trips, but they don’t deliver. Prices range between $12 and $15 a day and $50 and $60 a week.
“It’s a great idea,” Aaron said, “and we expect to know if it’s viable within a year. The primary targets are skiers in the winter, and in the spring and summer a heavy push to folks going down to the shore.”
Visit www.roofboxtogo.com for dimensions and specs.