April 6, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

In Chestnut Hill area, your junk is his treasure
by LOU PERSEGHIN

Brian Fawcett and his conspicuous company car are often seen on the streets of Chestnut Hill. (Photo by Lou Perseghin)

Brian Fawcett, 27, wants your junk. Ratty couches, old appliances, mattresses and bags of odds and ends, he wants it all. Fawcett isn’t a packrat or antique dealer, but rather the owner of a 1-800-GOT JUNK? franchise. With business partner Alan Remer, Fawcett is eager to help out with the impending spring cleaning that many homes around the Chestnut Hill and Montgomery County area will go through as the weather turns.

In July of 2005, Fawcett and Remer opened for business, which has increased steadily for almost a year. “I feel like we bought a McDonalds in the 1950s or ‘60s,” said Fawcett over a coffee in the Chestnut Hill Starbucks.

Clad in khakis and a blue, long-sleeved company polo shirt, Fawcett is in the middle of a busy spring day, having driven from a job in Plymouth Meeting. Parked just across the street is a very conspicuous company car, with 1-800-GOT-JUNK? plastered brightly on each side. While speaking, Fawcett’s enthusiasm about the business makes it easy to see why the franchise has experienced a good deal of growth in its first year. Fawcett oversees the work crews each day, and his schedule is fairly tight.

“This month will be our best month so far, the way things are looking,” he said.

Though the area covered by Fawcett and his crew extends to most of Montgomery County, he explained that Chestnut Hill is the main focus area.

“This is our home area right now,” said Fawcett, “and this is where we spend most of our time.”

The problem, he relates, is not that people are lazy, but rather that people suffer from the affliction ‘dispose-a-phobia.’

“Stuff just sits there and takes up their living space,” said Fawcett. “They want to get it done, and we’re there to do it for them. People value their time and don’t really want to spend the whole weekend cleaning out that stuff, so we can bring in three or four guys and get it done quickly.”

While the crew collects a good deal of old furniture and the occasional bag of yard waste, the Chestnut Hill area has provided a treasure trove of older appliances like huge stereos from the 1960s and old refrigerators, and a few houses have even discarded some boxes of old vinyl albums.

It is a fairly simple process, Fawcett explained. The franchise has both a website and a national calling center to make the appointments. To fill up a truck costs about $570, including disposal fees and cleanup.

“It’s a pretty great system,” said Fawcett. “I haven’t had to re-invent the wheel or anything to do this.”

After graduating from Millersville University with a degree in Business, Fawcett worked at Loews, as well as Moyer & Son in Saudertown, a family-owned lawn and garden store. He moved back east because his wife, Allison, is from the Lansdale area and currently works in the Central Bucks County School District.

As far as the business’ future, Fawcett is concentrating on marketing 1-800-GOT-JUNK? to the Montgomery County area. On occasion, he and the crew can be seen on busy street corners, decked out in blue wigs, waving at the passing cars.

“It’s all part of our guerilla marketing scheme,” explained Fawcett. “People are driving by and waving, yelling out ‘I got junk.’ They really like it.”