Hassle-free Moving and Storage

Committed to Exceptional Service

The Zippy Shell concept was founded in 2007 in Australia by Gareth Taylor and Adam Gilchrist, and was one of Australia's first mobile storage businesses. It operated there for two years, building a customer base of over 500 storage customers before being sold as a Master Franchise to Grace Removals Group, one of Asia’s largest moving companies.

In 2010 Zippy Shell USA, LLC launched in the United States. The mission was clear - give the convenience of portable storage at the cost of traditional. Our unique shell and container model saves you time, money and back pain.

We like to keep things simple. We deliver a storage container to you and your stuff gets loaded. When you're ready, we'll pick up your shell and store it safely. Need something from your shell or to have it delivered to your new place? Give us a call and we will deliver your stuff back to you. It's as easy as that.

Our Team

Zippy Shell USA was created in June 2009 by a group of successful franchising industry executives, for the specific purpose of acquiring from ZSI the Master Franchise Rights for the United States and subsequently franchising the Zippy Shell System across the United States. The executive team, each with 15 or more years of franchising experience, worked together as senior executives at Cendant Corporation and Realogy Corporation. They are considered some of the most seasoned franchising professionals in the US.

C. Javier Parraga – Chairman

Mr. Parraga is an accomplished franchise development professional with more than 20 years of executive leadership, franchising and sales experience. He is the former Executive Vice President of Realogy. In that role, Mr. Parraga was responsible for the sale and ongoing operations of master franchises around the world. He has successfully negotiated and signed more than 200 master franchise agreements, encompassing more than 150 countries and territories, and was responsible for more than 6,500 real estate franchise offices outside of the U.S. Mr. Parraga graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland and was formerly a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Maryland.

Rick Del Sontro – CEO

Mr. Del Sontro has 20 years of real estate and franchising experience. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Franchise Sales for Cendant Corporation, where he was responsible for franchising all of the Cendant real estate brands in the United States. In that role, he was instrumental in designing and building the infrastructure that supported the franchise sales and franchise renewal processes and growing the related sales organization of more than 50 employees that produced more than $200 million of new sales annually. Mr. Del Sontro has successfully launched and grown a number of businesses over the past 12 years.

Gareth Taylor – President and CEO, Worldwide Operations

From December 2007 to June 2009, Mr. Taylor was a co-founder and CEO of Zippy Shell Storage Systems in Australia, where he was responsible for development of the business system and growth of the business. He negotiated and sold a country-wide Zippy Shell Master Franchise License to Grace Removal Group, one of Australia’s largest moving companies, in 2009. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Taylor served as an Associate Director at Marakon Associates where he advised senior-level executives at Fortune 100 Companies such as Textron Corporation, Alcan, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche. Mr. Taylor served in the role of Manager at Huron Consulting Group and Associate at Lehman Brothers Holding. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (2001) and a B.Sc. from the University of New South Wales (1995), Australia.

Robin Ashwood – Franchise Operations Manager

Mrs. Ashwood is the former Operations Manager for the Rainy Day Foundation, a non-profit that provides financial counseling, budgeting and assistance to new homeowners. While there she served as the interface between clients and the organization. Additionally she managed and trained the counselors for the organization. She also had responsibility for all financial matters. Prior to working with the Rainy Day Foundation she served as manager for a privately owned restaurant group. She oversaw the successful opening of 4 restaurants. Her daily responsibilities included taking the restaurant from concept to opening, problem solving, hiring and training of key personnel and ongoing support of all operational matters.

Eric Delgado – Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Delgado has over 15 years of extensive event marketing, operational and financial expertise. During the last decade Mr. Delgado was instrumental in developing several financial services firms including MCM Capital which manages a portfolio of performing and non-performing residential whole loans worth over $1.8 Billion US. While at MCM Capital, Mr. Delgado was seen as a market expert and asked to speak at several industry conferences and super conferences and events including the Five Star Institute Annual Conference, REOMAC, The AREAA Global Real Estate Summit, and REO Expo to name a few. Mr. Delgado graduated from the Loyola University New Orleans and is currently a candidate for his Masters of Real Estate from Georgetown University.

Lance Avery – CTO

In addition to his role as Chief Technology Officer of ZSA, Mr. Avery is President and CEO of Greyhound Technologies, Ltd. in Detroit, Michigan. Greyhound Technologies is a full-service systems integrator formed in 1996 to provide complex on-premise and cloud-based solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Greyhound Technologies services customers primarily in the Southeast Michigan area, but also provides assistance to clients in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Texas. Prior to his current role, Mr. Avery has also held positions as Director of IT for a Midwest energy company and Associate with consulting firms McKinsey & Company and American Management Systems.