BOOM: Maxwell Bonnie Creates a New Industry for Smaller Manufacturers
Restaurants and retailers are “traditional” MULO (multi-location categories). But the business world is changing, and different types of brick-and-mortar enterprises are emerging as new industry.
We’ve covered several MULO (multi-location) business categories that are appearing in response to business/consumer needs — like podcast studios, IV locations, and boutique gyms.
Inventors and manufacturers are now proliferating. Spaces to store their goods and services and to ship them can be costly. Once a founder has outgrown their bedroom and garage, what are they to do?
Enter Maxwell Bonnie and his new venture, Saltbox. The company opened
in 2019 and now has 13 total locations. We recently sat down with Co-Founder Bonnie to talk about the new industry he’s creating.
How do you define the category?
We specialize in E-commerce logistics for small businesses, which includes community, warehouse space, logistic services, and technology. Consider it co-working for warehouse services and purpose-built services to help founders scale.
What’s your origin story?
My team and I are all e-commerce entrepreneurs. I helped build PeachDish, a food shipping company. It had a seven-year run prior to my founding Saltbox. I also built customer experience at FullStory, a leading venture-backed digital analytics platform.
What are your expansion plans?
We’re building technology that will enable us to expand outside our own four walls, so people don’t need to physically be inside our spaces in order to use Saltbox services. We are currently in Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Washington, DC, and Columbus, Ohio. We are expanding into New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.
Why should manufacturers share warehouse space rather than renting/managing their own? Benefits? Any downsides?
Two key reasons exist for our model.
- Managing your own space is distracting from building your company. Founders should focus on marketing and sales and leave the physical space and logistics issues to experts.
- Entrepreneurs can learn from other founders in different categories as part of the Saltbox community.
How do you market?
We love to tell stories of our community through social media and host events in the markets where we operate. We also invest in hyper-local search.
What’s next for you?
We’ve raised $50 million to date and are investing in expanding markets and building technologies to meet our community’s needs.
As retailers shift to e-commerce models, the need for spaces like Saltbox is bound to increase. Picking and packing is only part of the equation. The ultimate goal is to create an environment where founders can learn from each other as they grow!
