Our Story
The Start
It all started in 2017. Collin, a current student at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, saw an opportunity to make some extra cash while attending school full-time, so he started “Collin’s Movers,” a local company offering local delivery services. At the time, he didn’t have a truck, so he borrowed his friend’s manual pick-up. Being the optimist, Collin figured after a couple YouTube videos, he would be an expert at driving stick.… He was very wrong. During that delivery, he stalled out more than six times, even getting caught in the middle of a busy intersection. Luckily, Collin, the truck, AND the dresser all made it without a scratch.
Eventually, Collin was receiving requests that would require more than just one person. Pulling from the people he knew, he would call up his college friends to see if they could help. After a customer commented about all the mover’s being college students, Collin realized what the company name should really be: “College Movers.”
To get more business for the newly named College Movers, Collin started advertising on Craigslist. Soon customers began requesting help with larger moves, needing entire homes and shops relocated across town. Some customers would boast about how much money they saved by renting the truck themselves rather than hiring a full-service moving company. Customers claimed to have spent up to four times less than quotes they received from other moving companies. To continue this money-saving effect, College Movers stopped providing trucks and became a labor-only moving service, providing loading and unloading services.
Name Change
Collin realized if they were going to expand into different markets, they needed a unique name. They knew they would have to change and the sooner it was done, the better. So in February 2021, a new name was decided–UniMovers. They saw it as the perfect name to encompass the fact that their movers are all university students, and also tie in their desire to grow with their community.
UniMovers Today
UniMovers continues to staff the company with movers who are solely current students and recent graduates. UniMovers also commits a portion of revenue to their semi-annual scholarship fund in an effort to continually support the working student. They also put a portion of each location’s revenue back into the community through local non-profit organizations.