San Francisco Tech Startup Is Turning Small Businesses into Storage Points For Travellers and Locals

Have you ever found yourself missing out on an event or an experience, just because you had too many things? A bag too big for a venue, or a suitcase that you had to take with you after check-out?

Well, that could be a thing of the past from today because Bounce, the leading luggage storage marketplace, has announced the European expansion of their storage network with the launch of their partner stores across Spain.

Bounce partners with local businesses to turn their spare space into short-term luggage storage. Founded in 2018, San-Francisco based startup Bounce has already partnered with hundreds of stores across the United States and has featured in The Boston Globe, TechCrunch, and Forbes.

Now, against the odds that Coronavirus has stacked against the travel industry, Bounce is making the leap into Europe. They’ve already partnered with over 50 small businesses across Spain. Their luggage storage locations now include Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Alicante, Malaga, Cordoba, and Valencia. They plan to open more stores in the coming months.

“We’re really excited to bring Bounce to Spain and work with our partner stores,” says Cody Candee, CEO and Co-founder at Bounce. “People often have to drag their bags from one place to the next. Or, they go out of their way to drop their things at home, or cancel plans completely because they’ve got too much stuff on them. Our things shouldn’t tie us down. We had this problem ourselves while travelling and realised that there had to be a better way. That’s when we had the idea for Bounce.”

Bounce started as a way to help people to get the most out of their lives and Live Life Light. But it’s also become a way for local businesses to create an extra stream of income.

“Our store partners earn commission on every booking that’s made with their business, as well as increased sales from the additional foot traffic,” says Cody. “By partnering with local businesses, we’re able to help our partners make use of their spare storage space and provide our users with a place to store their luggage safely so they can go about their days baggage-free.”

Every local business that works with Bounce gets listed on the Bounce platform and those in Spain are already seeing the benefits. Beautiful Bike, a bike rental store in Valencia, for example, has already stored dozens of bags at their shop in the recent weeks since they came on board.

Despite the current problems that face the travel industry, Bounce has found that Spain is already seeing traction. “Most of the customers we’re seeing book our Spanish locations at the moment are from Spain, but as travel restrictions change we start to see different customers making the most of our partner locations,” says Cody.

If you’re looking for somewhere to store your luggage in a Spanish city, you can access any of Bounce’s partners through the Bounce website or app. Once you’ve booked your chosen spot, Bounce will send you a receipt that you can show the store partner when you arrive. They’ll keep your bag safe until it’s time for you to collect it.