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What recession? Rain barrel company doubles its business
By Matthew K. Roy
Staff writer Gloucester Daily Times
PEABODY — Amid all the bad news caused by the recession, The New England Rain Barrel Company is an anomaly.
The Peabody-based operation has seen its business double in each of the last three years. The company made and sold 10,000 barrels last year.
Founders Jack and Joan Freele of Lynn have capitalized on a business model that centers on relationships with local governments in more than 100 cities and towns, primarily in Massachusetts, but also in Rhode Island, Connecticut, upstate New York and Ohio.
"Basically, (cities and towns) help us get the word out, and then we do the rest," Jack Freele said. "That really is the key to what we've accomplished thus far."
Take Peabody as an example. The city recently offered the first 100 residents rain barrels for $62.95, a steep discount off the $119.95 retail price. After those 100 barrels are gone, and a modest state grant that helped defray the cost dries up, the price ticks up to $72.95.
New England Rain Barrel handles all the orders, by phone or through its Web site, and will deliver the barrels one day next month at the Peabody Department of Public Services.
Municipalities do not have to store the barrels, process the money or, because the company is an approved state contractor, deal with the red tape involved in finding a qualified vendor.
"They were willing to take on a major portion of the work," said Pam Irwin, recycling coordinator in Danvers, the first community to partner with the company in 2003.
The Freeles noticed the prevalence of rain barrels while living in London for four years.
"People (there) have a different mind-set about conservation," Jack Freele said. "Everybody has a rain barrel."
When they returned home in 2000, Joan wanted one for her garden, but the big-box home improvement stores didn't carry them. Jack had to fashion one himself.
A rain barrel collects water that runs out of a downspout affixed to a home or garage. A quarter-inch of rain will fill a 55-gallon barrel, Freele said. The water can then be used to water a garden.
Freele uses blue plastic barrels that once held fruit juice concentrate. The color keeps out ultraviolet light and prevents mold or algae from growing inside, he said.
New England Rain Barrel has 12 employees — including the Freeles — the majority of whom are part time or seasonal. The increasing demand this year kept the company making barrels through the winter for the first time. The man responsible, Richard Doucette, has made 2,000 since January.
Rain barrels help residents of local communities that institute spring and summer water bans to continue watering their gardens. They also promote eco-friendly, "green" living, an increasingly attractive option to consumers. Both factors have helped New England Rain Barrel thrive, Freele said. The volume of business they do working with cities and towns lets them offer prices at a lowered wholesale rate.
The phones that kept ringing yesterday in the company's warehouse offered proof that betting on rain barrels was a wise decision for him and his wife.
"We have never looked back," Freele said
By Matthew K. Roy
Staff writer Gloucester Daily Times
PEABODY — Amid all the bad news caused by the recession, The New England Rain Barrel Company is an anomaly.
The Peabody-based operation has seen its business double in each of the last three years. The company made and sold 10,000 barrels last year.
Founders Jack and Joan Freele of Lynn have capitalized on a business model that centers on relationships with local governments in more than 100 cities and towns, primarily in Massachusetts, but also in Rhode Island, Connecticut, upstate New York and Ohio.
"Basically, (cities and towns) help us get the word out, and then we do the rest," Jack Freele said. "That really is the key to what we've accomplished thus far."
Take Peabody as an example. The city recently offered the first 100 residents rain barrels for $62.95, a steep discount off the $119.95 retail price. After those 100 barrels are gone, and a modest state grant that helped defray the cost dries up, the price ticks up to $72.95.
New England Rain Barrel handles all the orders, by phone or through its Web site, and will deliver the barrels one day next month at the Peabody Department of Public Services.
Municipalities do not have to store the barrels, process the money or, because the company is an approved state contractor, deal with the red tape involved in finding a qualified vendor.
"They were willing to take on a major portion of the work," said Pam Irwin, recycling coordinator in Danvers, the first community to partner with the company in 2003.
The Freeles noticed the prevalence of rain barrels while living in London for four years.
"People (there) have a different mind-set about conservation," Jack Freele said. "Everybody has a rain barrel."
When they returned home in 2000, Joan wanted one for her garden, but the big-box home improvement stores didn't carry them. Jack had to fashion one himself.
A rain barrel collects water that runs out of a downspout affixed to a home or garage. A quarter-inch of rain will fill a 55-gallon barrel, Freele said. The water can then be used to water a garden.
Freele uses blue plastic barrels that once held fruit juice concentrate. The color keeps out ultraviolet light and prevents mold or algae from growing inside, he said.
New England Rain Barrel has 12 employees — including the Freeles — the majority of whom are part time or seasonal. The increasing demand this year kept the company making barrels through the winter for the first time. The man responsible, Richard Doucette, has made 2,000 since January.
Rain barrels help residents of local communities that institute spring and summer water bans to continue watering their gardens. They also promote eco-friendly, "green" living, an increasingly attractive option to consumers. Both factors have helped New England Rain Barrel thrive, Freele said. The volume of business they do working with cities and towns lets them offer prices at a lowered wholesale rate.
The phones that kept ringing yesterday in the company's warehouse offered proof that betting on rain barrels was a wise decision for him and his wife.
"We have never looked back," Freele said
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