Eager Beaver Moving

Since its foundation in 1984, Eager Beaver Moving has been about relationships. After nearly 25 years in the moving and freight business, the company’s founder, Jack Watson saw an opportunity to build a local moving company whose values included quality and pride in ones work above all else. Jack’s experience with large companies like Gimli Transfer, Beaver Storage and Eaton’s helped shape the vision of his future enterprise, where he knew that a personal commitment and a handshake meant more to people than what big corporations could offer. His dream became reality when Eaton’s began selling some of its older fleet. Jack jumped at the chance to break out on his own and called on his friend, the head of Eaton’s asset management, to secure several of the now iconic Ford cab-over trucks to begin his venture.

With little more than an ad in the local Yellow Pages and a fiery personality, Jack built his company to a fleet of 6 trucks at its peak, operating as both Eager Beaver Express Moving, and the senior’s friendly Jack Watson the Mover.

The seeds of the second generation of Eager Beaver Moving began to sprout long before the first had even grown. Watching his dad manage the transportation department at Beaver Storage in the early 1960’s, it was no surprise when Bill got an early start in the moving business as well. At the tender age of 15, Bill’s first job was building the old wooden freight boxes in the warehouse, but it wasn’t long before he too embraced his entrepreneurial spirit, bought his first truck and hit the road, eventually embarking on dozens of coast-to-coast trips per year.

It was while working for Bekin’s Moving and Storage in Montreal that he met his future wife, and they eventually settled down in Edmonton, AB in the early 1980’s to raise their growing family.

After nearly 20 years in the business, life on the road was becoming difficult for the father of four, so he decided to pursue his dream conceived many years before, and followed in his father’s footsteps to establish the Edmonton branch of Eager Beaver Moving. Using the same friend at Eaton’s his dad called on all those years ago, he bought his first 2 trucks and had them painted in Winnipeg, electing (at the request of his 9-year old daughter) to go with the signature green and white design, rather than the red and yellow of the Winnipeg office.

Bill has since built a solid reputation around Edmonton, relying almost exclusively on repeat customers and referrals, eschewing rapid growth in favor of integrity and dependability.

Now a third generation is set to make its mark on the company. John Watson recently made the bold decision to give up a promising career at a major product supply company to pick up where his dad and granddad left off, and ultimately take Eager Beaver to new heights.

It is not easy to distinguish one’s company from the many movers that crowd the phone books, so naturally when a customer does come calling, Eager Beaver makes it their mission to ensure that the customer wants to tell their family and friends what a great experience they had with us.

RESIDENTIAL MOVES
We help people move every single day, so moving is pretty routine for us. However, we’ve never met a single family who didn’t ultimately find moving to be stressful. Upheaval is never fun.

Here are some things to consider when you begin planning a move.

A GOOD MOVE BEGINS EVEN BEFORE THE MOVE BEGINS
Everybody knows that it’s important to be careful about choosing a new place. Most people think about neighborhood quality, school quality, the aesthetic appearance and general upkeep of the home, and many other factors.

However, most people do not think about their furniture, and this can lead to some heartache later on.

We recommend that you consider every piece of furniture in your home, and where you want it to go in your new place. For any pieces that are over sized, like couches or dressers for example, you should verify that they are going to fit where you want them to go. We’ve seen people reduced to tears because a beloved couch won’t fit down the stairs into the new man-cave, simply because they didn’t notice that turn on the staircase, or the low ceiling clearance.

Of course you might really like your chosen spot, and like it enough to get rid of the pieces that won’t work. This way, at least, you get to make a decision rather than be caught by surprise after you’ve already given notice and paid deposits on the new place. This gives you time to sell pieces that won’t work or to give them away. It also allows you to budget for new furniture pieces that will work. The key is to avoid being taken by surprise.

By purging your current place of all unwanted or unnecessary items, it saves a lot of time on your move, and most importantly, reduces the cost.

EVERY MOVE IS A BIG DEAL, EVEN IF YOU’RE JUST GOING DOWN THE BLOCK
Moving around the corner? Don’t assume that this move is going to be a snap. It can be, but you need to take an organized and systematic approach or it will quickly deteriorate into a chaotic mess.

For example, failing to pack carefully and properly can result in damages despite the short distance. Also, one of the key things that will save you money on your move is to ensure have everything ready to go before the movers arrive. Try and obtain proper moving boxes that are uniform sizes. Saving money by picking up free liquor store boxes will be easily wasted when the move takes an extra hour or two. Not only do small, randomly sized boxes take longer for you to pack, it results in two to three times as many boxes, and thus two to three times as many trips from the house to the truck for the movers.

Staying organized means that stuff doesn’t get left behind, and prevents the accumulation of random piles of things, which take extra time for movers to deal with. The means you won’t end up having to make multiple trips from the new place to the old place to pick up things the movers just couldn’t take because they weren’t packed properly.

Taking advantage of our professional packing service can significantly reduce confusion and disorder on moving day.

If you are going to pack yourself, start as early as possible. Pack it all up. Start with the non-essential items, then move on to things that you use every day. Try to work room by room, so that once an area is complete you can shut the door and you don’t have to keep back to it. This makes it less overwhelming, as you can visually see that progress is being made.

DON’T BE IN A HURRY—MOVE OUT THE RIGHT WAY
Most people just want their move to be over with as quickly as possible. It’s easy to get really frustrated, and it’s easy to just charge out of the old place without attending to details like the end-of-tenancy cleaning or the walkthrough with the landlord.

Many people express a lot of cynicism that they’ll get their deposit back. Some customers say that the landlord is going to charge them for cleaning services anyway so they may as well not bother. However, you may need a good relationship with that landlord again in the future—and it’s hard to feel good about leaving a mess for someone else to clean up.

Besides, that final walkthrough might be the key to getting the deposit back, especially if you take plenty of pictures. Look, moving is expensive—even when you use a moving crew like ours, a crew that works hard to keep prices reasonable. There are a thousand tiny, unexpected expenses and hassles that pop up throughout the process. You aren’t thinking about it now, but there’s going to be stuff you need at the new place, too—stuff you’ll probably throw out or avoid taking with you. Doesn’t it make sense to try to recoup every dollar that you can, while ensuring that you’re psychologically ready to move into the new place?

MAKE SURE YOU’RE GIVING YOUR MOVERS ADEQUATE INFORMATION
We can’t give you an accurate quote without accurate information. We recommend that you go through your home writing down every piece of furniture that you see. Estimate 4-6 medium sized boxes per room—more if the room is particularly large, or if you have a lot of nick knacks. For the most part, you can leave any clothing or linens in dressers, but don’t forget about the closets, where there tends to be lots of stuff that needs to go in boxes. Be honest with yourself and think about how many boxes it took on your last move, and whether you’ve accumulated more stuff since then. Remember, the kitchen tends to be the most surprising as the amount of stuff crammed in the cupboards can be deceiving. The average kitchen has at least 10-15 medium sized boxes. Also, those storage rooms in the basement and all that stuff under the stairs that you forgot about? That stuff can take a while to clear out, even for us, so that is crucial information for us to have.

If you can compile an itemized list of furniture before you get on the phone with us, or include it in your online estimate request, along with what type of dwelling you’re in, and what type your moving in to, we can give a pretty accurate idea of how much it will cost to move it.

KNOW THAT CALLING THE PROS SAVES TIME, MONEY, AND FRIENDSHIPS
Do you remember the last time your friend called and asked you to help them move? What excuse did you give? Ok, we’re kidding, but in all seriousness, when you add up the time and effort you will spend trying to do everything yourself, and the number of favors you will be calling in for your friends and family to come and help, quite often it’s worth it to just hire movers.

Think about it in terms of how you would like to spend your time: your vacation time at work, quality time with your family, or beautiful summer days that you could be having a BBQ or walking in the river valley. Do you really want to be furiously packing up all your belongings, and then hunting all over the city for an available uHaul, or making 30 trips in your friend’s pickup truck? And why risk a few weeks (or more) with a sore back trying to physically carry all your heavy boxes, dressers and couches yourself? Never mind the possibility of inflicting wall damage, or scratching/breaking some of your cherished belongings. When you see how we handle your furniture with the care and attention it deserves, and witness the skill with which we maneuver your larger items up the stairs and around corners, you’ll never go back to moving yourself.

At the very least, just contact us for a free quote before calling in all of those favors. You’ll be surprised at what we can come up with to make it cost effective, and reducing the amount of work for you and your family.

OFFICE MOVES
Are you responsible for coordinating your office move? This is an exciting time. Most businesses move their offices because they’re growing and expanding, after all.

Offices don’t come with too many nick-knacks or dishes, but they can be just as complicated and stressful as your standard residential move. In fact, they can be more complicated and stressful because most companies still need to do business while the move is taking place.

There are a lot of pitfalls, so we’ve compiled this list of tips to help you manage your business move.

START WITH A PROJECT PLAN
Moving may well be the biggest project you’ve ever managed. An office move is about a lot more than packing up boxes and bringing everything over to the new site. Here are just a few of the considerations you’re going to want to think about.

IT and phone services. Your phones are going to have to ring without interruption. Your computer systems will need to be set up at the new place. They may even need to work at both places simultaneously until the transition is complete.
When to move various employees. Some employees may need to move right away, while others will need to stay at the original office until the day the move is done. This means that your furniture, fixtures, and equipment may need to move in phases as well.
New furniture, fixtures, and equipment. A bigger office probably needs more desks, more phones, more computers, more conference room furniture—you name it. That’s going to have to get purchased, and it’s going to have to arrive at your site. It’s also going to have to be disassembled and reassembled.
You’re probably going to have to move sensitive files and documents. You’re also going to need to make sure that the employees who need those documents to do their job have access to them.
You’ve probably been given a budget to use—and it’s important to ensure that you stay within that budget. That means taking the time to research alternatives for different products, services, utilities, and vendors that you may need to accomplish your move.
Security is also an issue. Moving day is chaotic, and you may be moving expensive equipment or sensitive documents. Movers and employees should wear security passes on the day of the move to make sure you aren’t letting these items fall into the wrong hands.
Change of address notifications, which include address changes on all major marketing materials.
Your plan should include important dates (i.e. when to start and stop internet service at your new office, when various personnel move, etc). It should also include a list of who is responsible for what. Try to think of every step of the move and make sure you place it in the plan. If you’re not the owner or CEO you should share the plan with your supervisor so he or she has a chance to “weigh in” before anything is set in stone. You may even need to place multiple employees in charge of multiple tasks—one employee may need to be in charge of the furniture, for example, while another handles all of the communications issues associated with the move.

FIGURE OUT HOW YOU’RE GOING TO REDUCE NOISE DURING YOUR MOVE
Most people don’t realize that noise is a big concern during a move, especially if you spend a lot of time on the phone with clients. They don’t want to hear power drills disassembling cubicles or other unprofessional background noises.

You also have your office building neighbors to consider, both at the old location and at the new location. They’re all trying to conduct business as well, and they won’t be pleased if your moving activities interfere with their ability to do that.

Throw down some temporary moving pads or carpets if you’re dealing with hard floors. You may also try to have some packing taking place outside of normal business hours. Pack areas farthest from the busiest phone areas first. Above all, work to be as considerate and as careful as possible.

DON’T SEND EMPLOYEES TO DO THE HEAVY LIFTING
You may be tempted to avoid using any kind of moving company in order to save as much money as possible. This would be a mistake.

Your employees are not trained movers, and lifting heavy objects isn’t in the job description of your average office worker, which means you could open yourself up to legal issues by asking them to haul boxes around. It’s okay to ask employees to pack their own desks, but have movers do the actual hauling.

This rule holds true even if you have a whole staff full of warehouse workers who are expected to lift things as part of their daily duties. That doesn’t make them experts at assembling and disassembling furniture, nor does it make them experts at packing up trucks so that none of your delicate equipment gets damaged.

You’ll actually save money by working with professional movers. Moving is a lot more than shoving things into boxes and shoving boxes into trucks.

HAVE THE MOVING COMPANY COME ON-SITE TO OFFER A QUOTE
Commercial moving quotes are way more complex than residential moving quotes. Make sure you actually have the moving company come down to see you rather than attempting to get all of your quotes over the phone or on the Internet. This is, simply put, the very best way to avoid nasty surprises later.

Your moving company may also have specific instructions for how to handle certain pieces of equipment. For example, we always recommend that toner be removed from all copiers before transport so that ink doesn’t get everywhere. You get a good opportunity to discuss these issues with your moving provider, and to add them to the plan, when you take the time to have an in-person conversation with a moving representative who cares.

KEEP INVENTORIES AND LABEL EVERYTHING
You can’t afford to lose anything during your office move—and some items may be more of a high-priority during the unpacking phase than others. A really good inventory can help you get the most important items out fast. It can also help you double check that everything made it over undamaged and ready to go.

Of course, if you hire Eager Beaver to help with your moving needs you can feel confident knowing that we’re going to get everything over for you, and that it will all be in stellar shape when it gets there. Nevertheless, we’re still going to recommend that you make that inventory for your own internal use.

SENIOR MOVING
Lives change, even for those who have been living in the same house for decades. We’ve seen a lot of special issues arise when seniors make moves. Often the move is all about downsizing. The kids are gone, so it’s time to move to a smaller house that doesn’t require as much time and energy to manage. Your health is failing, so you decide to move into an independent living facility.

These changes come with a host of emotions, from excitement to fear. In addition, many seniors have accumulated a lot of special items over the years. Heirlooms and antiques require special care, and may provide a special source of anxiety, too.

That’s why we wanted to take a moment to provide a list of tips which speak to your unique needs.

MAKE A FLOOR PLAN
This is vital if you are downsizing. Make sure your floor plan is accurate by bringing a tape measure to the new space, preferably before you commit to living there. Measure everything. Then, come home and measure your furniture.

You probably are going to have a lot more furniture in your old place then you will want or need in your new place. And if your new place isn’t going to accommodate the dining table or sectional sofa that you just can’t live without then you’re going to want to rethink your ultimate destination.

The floor plan makes it easy on the movers, too, since you’ll be able to tell them exactly where each and every item goes when you get to your new home. Besides, it can be fun envisioning how your old items are going to fit into your new life—and it’s comforting to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what will and won’t be making the transition with you.

KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR CHANGING NEEDS AS YOU CHOOSE YOUR NEW SPACE
If you’re not moving into an independent living facility then it’s up to you to make sure your home is up to the challenge of aging with you.

Think about accessibility issues. Does the new home have a lot of steps and stairs, or is it a nice ranch space? Does it offer accessible showers and bath features, or will you have to rip everything out and install new if you run into health problems later? Is there access to public transportation or a safe, reliable taxi service close enough to take you to your appointments, the grocery store, and any recreational activities you want to enjoy if your eyesight grows poor enough to make it unsafe for you to drive?

Nobody really enjoys thinking about these issues, but we all get older, and age brings challenges. You don’t want to do this all over again in a few years. You need more than a pretty home or a great yard to make your move successful.

THINK ABOUT PROFESSIONAL PACKING SERVICES
It may have made sense to pack up your house 20 or 30 years ago, but it might not make as much sense today. First, you probably have a lot more stuff. Thirty years of Christmas presents makes for a pretty full house!

Second, you’ve got to think about your health and stamina. Some seniors are still right in their prime—in perfect shape and ready to take on the world. Most find that everything takes longer than it used to. If you’re moving slower, get tired more easily or deal with back pain or arthritis it may be best to give the job off to professionals.

If you do decide to pack up everything yourself make sure you give yourself plenty of time. That way you can pack a box a night without overtaxing yourself.

The same, of course, goes for hauling. You definitely don’t want to try to lug furniture around by yourself, and while there are members of your peer group who will think they feel 100% up to the challenge you won’t want to be the one responsible for a back or knee injury when it’s all said and done.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO COMMUNICATE
Want to make sure the movers treat your 150 year old heirloom table with extra care? Say so when you make the call! This will let your movers know to bring extra wrap, blankets, and other protective items.

We’re committed to 100% damage-free moving, but that doesn’t mean we’re omnipotent when it comes to knowing just how delicate and precious some of your items are. What works for a newer piece of furniture might not work for an antique. We want to offer you the level of care you need, so please tell us about any concerns you may have.

TAKE THE TIME TO PURGE
Again, you probably have a lot more stuff than you used to. This can become a problem if you’re downsizing. Develop a plan for selling items, giving them away, or throwing them away. Keep only what you really need or really love—the things that will make you happy in your new home.

Of course, this is standard advice for anyone who is making a move! You’ll be surprised at just how many unnecessary objects have found their way into closets, drawers, and cabinets over the years.

TAKE THE TIME TO RELAX
This is a draining time, both emotionally and physically. Make sure you take a bit of time to yourself. Give yourself a reward at the end of each successfully completed phase of the move. Take a hot bath, read a book, or play Mahjongg for a few hours. Do whatever you need to do in order to stay sane.

You can have a safe, stress-free, and smart move as a senior citizen. It all starts with calling Eager Beaver movers for a free quote. We treat you exactly like we’d treat our own family members, and offer all of the respect, communication, and care that you deserve.