Haul in the family

Michael Cassidy and his son Brian Cassidy both firmly believe that one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. The two recently opened a Junk King franchise in Reno, just off of Mill Street.

Michael retired in 2008 after 38 years in the employee benefit insurance consulting business. He sold his agency to Wells Fargo and began his search for a franchise that would have the potential to add value to Reno’s community.

Brian spent the majority of his life in Glendale, Calif. He had a fair share of struggles growing up, including almost losing his life to meningitis. Brian is now married to his wife, Andrea, and the two have a son with health struggles of his own. Born three months premature, he weighed less than two pounds at the time of his birth.

Because of the couple’s desire to raise a happy family, they moved to Reno in search of a better life. Michael said that his son is very committed to the town of Reno, and that he loves living here.

After two years of researching franchise opportunities including SignWorld, Jimmy Johns and Massage Envy, the father-and-son team decided on Junk King.

Junk King is a full-service company that allows customers — both residential and businesses — to schedule junk pick-up online or via telephone. No labor is required on the part of the customer. While the Junk King team loads the truck with the customer’s unwanted items, they separate any of the items that they feel can be recycled so that they can be taken back to the warehouse in Reno.

Michael’s goal is to recycle at least 60 per cent of the items they pick up.

“We don’t want to take all of this waste to the land fill, so we recycle absolutely everything that we can,” Michael said.

Junk King will not pick up any hazardous materials such as paint, chemicals or oil. They will gladly recycle metals, plastics and other materials that may be useful for others.

Above all, Michael and Brian stand firm in their belief that Junk King is a wise investment for the economy as well as the environment. Giving back to the community is very high on their list of priorities.

“We wanted to find something that would be Brian’s own business because it is more than just making money for us,” said Michael. “We picked Junk King primarily because of the franchise’s commitment to the environment.”

Michael was able to start up the Junk King franchise by using his retirement fund, and now is in the process of obtaining a Small Business Administration loan. There are currently 68 Junk King franchises across the nation, and none of them have failed.

Like an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive, Michael said that he and his team have seen some interesting things in the few weeks that they have been working at Junk King. But one thing is for certain: their customers are always very grateful and relieved to see their unwanted items being hauled away in the Junk King truck.

Junk King is located at 960 Matley Lane, Suite 21, Reno, NV 89502. For an appointment, call (775) 624-9112.