Junk King

Local franchisee bringing treasure to workplace culture, customers

By Tabari McCoy , Scooter Media

“JUNK.”

The word rarely has positive connotations associated with it and Jack Brendamour, Chief Executive Officer and co-owner, Junk King Cincinnati, Dayton and Louisville, is acutely aware of this.

In fact, it almost trashed (pun intended) his current career before it ever got started.

“I met the guy who started Junk King and I initially didn’t want to work here because the words ‘Junk King’ –there just didn’t seem to be anything attractive about that. I used to hesitate when I told people I worked at Junk King. Now, I hold such pride,” Brendamour recalls of his meeting with Pete McCreary, the man who originally co-owned Junk King’s Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky franchises before passing away in 2015. “Now, when I walk into a restaurant or store and anyone who knows anything about us sees ‘Junk King,’ they say, ‘I love Junk King!’ It’s not uncommon for them to share a story about how we’ve helped them or someone they know… that's how we're overcoming negative associations with the term ‘junk.’ We're doing what's right, and good people support good businesses.”

… ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE

Specializing in fast, safe and environmentally friendly disposal of furniture, electronics and more, junk is a great business for Brendamour, who, along with Judy McCreary, co-owns Junk King’s Covington, Milford, Sharonville, Louisville and Dayton, Ohio franchises. Gaining his co-ownership role in 2018, Brendamour has seen the company grow substantially in recent years and not just in terms of its profits.

As noted in the company’s 2022 Impact Report (see sidebar), Junk King was awarded the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics, given to those who demonstrate “an outstanding commitment to integrity and ethical practices.” In addition, the company was a finalist for the Gems of Excellence Regional Business of the Year Award by the Mason Deerfield Chamber of Commerce, Brendamour himself a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

The company wouldn’t enjoy such success, of course, without the talent of a strong, vibrant and dedicated workforce.

“Our culture is the best thing about our business,” Brendamour says proudly. “We really have amazing employees. We're able to coach them not just how to be better employees, but better members of the community, better stewards of the environment and just grow them professionally.”

Brendamour points to the company’s open-door policy as one example of Junk King’s culture, which invites employees to discuss everything from safety programs and internal job opportunities to understanding finances, benefits, retirement and more. Likewise, the company allows employees to set their own schedules, a practice Brendamour says helps employees working a second job, that are in school and/or dealing with childcare issues.

Brendamour says making sure employees know they are valued is key to the company’s success.

“If you compensate your employees well and have good benefits, that's a necessity to get great talent. But it's the culture aspect of treating them right and caring about them that makes them want to refer the people they know to work for you, too,” he says. “We’ve been very blessed as so many companies have struggled with retention and getting employees, and almost all of our employees have come from internal referrals.”

Being open to ways to improve, he says, helps as well.

“We have anonymous feedback – posters in different places where you can scan a QR code and send an email directly to me without me knowing who it is,” Brendamour notes. “We aren't perfect, and we try to constantly evolve; we talk about it as a leadership team, and we make sure our employees’ voices are heard.”

A Christmas Story

To truly understand why he and so many others like working for Junk King, Brendamour shares a heartwarming story of a woman he met a few years back.

The woman was living in her car with three children before Operation Give Back, one of the 50+ local nonprofit organizations with whom Junk King partners, was able to find her family an apartment. Junk King was contacted to see if they could assist in providing the family with essentials. The company provided mattresses, furniture and cookware among other items. With it being two weeks until Christmas, Brendamour says he asked the woman a simple question: “Do you have a Christmas tree?”

Her answer, he says, sums up why one person’s junk can truly be another person’s treasure – and his company is always happy to provide.

“We get a lot of Christmas trees when people downsize, and we were able to provide her a Christmas tree; she just started crying,” Brendamour recalls. “She said ‘Never in my life have I had a Christmas tree or expected my children to have one, and Junk King just made me feel human again for the first time in so long.’ It's stories like that, that drives the culture that we have and the wonderful customers that support our business.” NKY

At A Glance

Number of Locations: 100+ locally owned franchises in the United States and Canada, five of which call the Tri-State area home in Milford, Covington, Sharonville (its local headquarters) as well as Dayton, Ohio and Louisville.

Number of Local Employees: Approximately 70 junk-king.com

History: Founded in 2005 by two friends in San Carlos, California, Junk King is the No. 1-rated junk removal service in North America. The Junk King franchise was acquired by Neighborly Brands in November 2022. Neighborly has more than 30 home services among its family of businesses.

Notable 2022 Local Achievements: Receiving its 513Green Certification by Hamilton County R3Source, Junk King also received a grant from the organization for a Styrofoam densifier, which produces a 60-1 ratio brick that is recyclable. The Styrofoam densifier makes Junk King one of the few recycling processors of that material (which does not decompose on its own) in the Greater Cincinnati area.

This is in addition to the company’s diversion of 430 tons – the weight of five Boeing 747s – from landfills plus sponsorship of, donation to or participation in nine major recycling and 20 nonprofit events. In November 2022, the company began sending items to King’s Treasures (www.facebook.com/ KingsTreasuresCincinnati), its local thrift shop at its Sharonville headquarters that sees a portion of its proceeds each month donated to local nonprofits.

Junk King also provides items to a number of organizations throughout the year, including tens of thousands of dollars worth of books, school supplies and equipment to benefit school children through Side by Side/BLOC Ministries.