Business Profile: Local Boys Junkyard Removal, Mahopac
He might only be 24-years-old, but Robert De Lucia recently made a life-changing decision.
For the last five years, De Lucia has owned the business Local Boys Junkyard Removal in Mahopac. While he’s run it and put plenty into the business, it was more of a part-time gig, something he worked at when he wasn’t focusing on another full-time job.
Now, that’s not the case. De Lucia made the bold move to quit his full-time job with a consistent salary and benefits to put all of his energy into making Local Boys his main priority. Being so young, if there was a time to take a leap of faith, now was it.
“I just couldn’t work for someone, I had to do something on my own,” De Lucia. “Make it, do something so that’s pretty much it actually.”
De Lucia, who graduated from Mahopac high school in 2007, had multiple jobs, his most recent one with Cablevision the last two years. While it provided stability, it wasn’t satisfactory. De Lucia’s interests center more on antiques and picking though other people’s unwanted goodies. The business primarily serves Putnam and Westchester Counties and will handle anything from home foreclosures, home/garage cleanouts, car and board removal, as well as furniture and carpet removal.
People usually know the items they want or need to get rid of, but don’t know how to dispose of it. For instance, there is a different way to throw paint out compared to a bed mattress, De Lucia said.
Some of the items De Lucia removes he’ll even try to re-sell. If the customer is tossing a couple of couches, he’ll look to make a few extra bucks so he doesn’t have to charge that customer as much.
Some items can even be put under the category “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” He still remembers going to wealthier towns like Chappaqua and Armonk in Westchester where families are throwing out huge television sets that haven’t been open yet.
As much as De Lucia is looking forward to making it on his own, he admitted there is some trepidation.
“I’m really nervous,” he said. “It was great because I had money coming in every two weeks when I got my paycheck and now I’m kind of nervous about it.”
And De Lucia certainly isn’t the only one in the junkyard removal business. He notes the industry can be competitive, but he tries to gain more customers with the best prices and the hope they’ll turn to a local kid from Putnam County, instead of a bigger business.
“I’m pretty much like a dumpster,” he said. “But I’m cheaper.”
And with two trucks, two trailers, two trailers that are rented and a car trailer all in his garbage-removing fleet, De Lucia is ready to get started.
“I’m hoping the fact that I’m local that everyone will choose me and not a big franchise that will cost them more money,” he said. “I try to stay local, I try to help people out that are local.”
Local Boys Junkyard Removal is located at 368 Route 6 in Mahopac and its number is 914-438-0202.
