Do you live in a small apartment but want to own a kayak, a few bikes, skis and a snowboard, and maybe an SUP? No problem. San Francisco startup Omni will store all your gear for you and deliver it to your door on demand. It’s like Uber for your gear.
Think of Omni as your personal storage concierge. Omni’s personal service and iPhone app let you view, organize and retrieve your things from storage, item by item, without ever visiting a storage facility. They offer both pick up and delivery from your front door, helping you to live a more minimalist everyday lifestyle.
So how does it work? Omni comes to pick up the items you want to store and takes them back to a secure facility. The Omni team unpacks, photographs, and catalogs each individual item you’re putting into storage, then uploads the images and information to your Omni account. This enables you to see everything you’ve stored and access everything you need when you need it, directly from the Omni iOS app. Whenever you want one of your items brought back, simply use the app to request it for delivery, select a delivery time that works for you, and they’ll bring it to your door.
Omni also offers a remote check-out feature, where you can request that stored items be delivered to a destination outside of the normal service area. For example, they’ll send your skis ahead to meet you in Tahoe. You can also lend your stored items to friends directly from Omni – they will handle the delivery and return.
So how much does this cost? Unlike normal storage where you pay monthly for a set amount of space, with Omni you pay on a monthly cost-per-item basis. No contracts or no minimums. The cost is $0.50 per month for standard items — items that could fit into your carry-on luggage, like clothes, shoes, books, small appliances, personal electronics, etc. The price jumps to $3.00 for large items such as bikes, skis, surfboards, tower fans, bar stools, car seats, suitcases, etc. And if you want to store a big box of stuff like all your winter clothes, Xmas ornaments, or vinyl record collection, it will be $7.50 per month for each closed container. And remote check-outs of course cost more — the price of shipping materials and postage, plus a 20% service fee.
Right now it’s only Bay Area residents (San Francisco and Oakland to be precise) who get to enjoy the service but the company plans on expanding to other cities soon. For those in the Bay Area that want to try it out, Omni just offered up to 50 items free for one month if you use the code: GOTGEAR.
And if you can’t bear to part with your gear at any time, check out these gear storage hacks I wrote up for Outside.