An influx of new Southwest Florida residents has brought a boon to the companies that move them.
Eagle Moving, founded in 2014 with one employee and one truck, has since enjoyed a fast expansion. In addition to now having 14 trucks and more than 40 employees, the south Fort Myers-based company will have a new headquarters to call home.
Lexington, Kentucky-company Southland Service Center LLC bought the vacant land at 6620 Alico Road in August 2018 for $160,000, property records show. Lexington is where Eagle Moving’s co-founders started their first moving business before Jake Loveland started the spinoff operation serving Southwest Florida eight years ago.
“We didn’t really know exactly where we wanted to be or how much space we needed,” Loveland said. “As we grew and got more trucks and got more employees, we knew exactly what we needed and found a lot. We started building last spring and hope to be done this fall.”
Last year, Eagle Moving broke ground on what will be a 2,000-square-foot headquarters and a parking lot for its vans that will be visible from Alico Road near U.S. 41 and from traffic passing overhead along Michael Rippe Parkway.
“It actually will not create any more overhead than what we’re paying in rent,” Loveland said. “So, it will give us a sense of security. It will allow us to grow and allow people to see us permanently. It will give us some advertising on Alico Road, a main, busy road. You can actually see it from Michael Rippe. It’s going to be hard to miss. It’ll be like 14 billboards there, right on the street.”
Most of Eagle Moving’s moves are from residents switching homes within the region. It is licensed to move anyone anywhere within the state of Florida but does not do out-of-state moves.
“Most of our moves are within Southwest Florida,” Loveland said. “Lee and Collier County. We could come in and just move the heavy stuff. Or we could come in and do a full-service move.”
The biggest competitors aren’t the other area licensed movers, Loveland and general manager Todd DeWoody said. It’s the unlicensed and uninsured “rogue movers.”
“They’re playing by their own rules,” Loveland said. “They can undercut us and hire people that they shouldn’t. All of our employees are full-time, W-2, background checked, job-screened. That’s the benefit you get. You know who’s in your home.
“If something was to happen to your items, or a truck gets in a wreck, we’re insured for up to $2 million. Just like an insurance claim, you would get that back. We’ve never had an incident like that. But that’s what being insured means.”
