Blue Trailer Unlocks Some New Opportunities as the Business Expands

Photo via Blue Trailer on Facebook

When Blue Trailer CEO and founder Molly MacDonald launched her traveling locker room company last year, after more than eight months of brainstorming and initial planning, she didn’t realize its full potential.

“Originally, the first sort of step was bringing the lockers into the running world, and to triathlons. Almost every weekend people said it would be good for triathlons because they didn’t want to leave stuff in the transition area,” she said.

But then she figured out that the concept was practical in even more situations and settings where people are forced to choose between leaving their belongings at home and lugging them around when attending events.

“Every time we are at an event people liked the idea and liked to come and up and talk to me about it. And a lot of folks were saying music festivals would be a good fit, not only because of restrictions of what you can bring in, but if you are going to be there for a full day, or if you are there later in the night. It’s a nice convenience to have,” said MacDonald.

As the opportunity to introduce her traveling locker room, a hitch attached to a vehicle where people can pay to place their personal items inside small cubbies until after a race is over, expanded, MacDonald has started the initial steps of revamping her mobile unit to make it more convenient for both her and her customers, and is also in the rebranding stage.

In August, MacDonald, who recently brought on two employees to help her run operations, will switch up Blue Trailer’s name, and roll out a larger truck a month later.

Currently, the trailer hitched version offers 600 lockers. With the newer vehicle, a box truck, people will be able to step into an LED-lit area with access via a small staircase. The next generation truck will also have some larger locker options.

“We want it on the road by the end of September,” she said of the newer vehicle. “Hopefully we will have designs and plans drawn up by August. We are sort of starting to set our sights on other regions and markets as well.”

With the new system and name in place, MacDonald anticipates balancing her time between the types of places her business will service, focusing 80 percent on races, and 20 percent on concert venues and other events like the Deutsche Bank Golf Championship during Labor Day Weekend.

By next summer, after she has more than a year of running the business under her belt full time, she even plans to go beyond that.

“We are talking about having the trailer parked at beaches for people—some of the more popular ones with restaurants and a boardwalk, so you can leave your stuff and then go for a walk down the beach and not worry about your stuff being there when you get back,” she said. “If we get that permit we would be able to do pretty much any park, running trails, or bike paths.”