R & R Freight, a North Branford freight and warehousing company, has been acquired by the southern New England franchise owner of Pods mobile-storage.
The purchase price of the transaction, which closed May 24, was not disclosed.
The acquirer is Connecticut and Rhode Island Portable Storage, d/b/a Pods. R&R co-principal Russell D’Agostino will remain with the company, according to Tim Greene, who with partner Rob Robitaille have been Pods franchisees since 1999. Greene assumed the title of president when the sale closed five weeks ago.
Greene said he and Robitaille have grown the mobile-storage business to become the largest franchise group in the Pods system, with locations in central and south Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
“We were looking for an opportunity to participate in the logistics and warehousing space [industry] in the New England area that had a strong core customer group,” Greene said. “In our Pods [business] we sometimes have customers looking for logistical moves that are outside of our scope, and now we can turn them on to R&R Freight Services for either a local move or a move across the country.
“In doing our due diligence [prior to making the deal] we found that R&R had a very strong core customer group in New England that has potential for onsite storage or storage in our warehouses,” Greene added. “So we thought it was a good blend.”
R&R Freight opened in 1986 as a freight-forwarder and agent for Target Air Freight. It was co-owned by D’Agostino and Russell Vito.
R&R Freight employs about 30 workers at its facility at 49 Fowler Rd. in North Branford — a number that Greene says he expects to grow, and soon.
Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
