The Shred Stop Story in The Herald Business Journal: Investing in Forest Restoration

Ah, Earth Day!  Amy Watkins wrote this great piece on Pacific Northwest company, The Shred Stop, and their support for the work the National Forest Foundation is doing in the Methow area: "Stephen Hershman believes it’s time for his young company to give something back.  Three years have passed since his document-shredding business, The Shred Stop, installed a prototype kiosk in Haggen’s Top Food and Drug in Edmonds. Since then, Hershman, 35, and his business partner, Keith Rettig, 45, have added 17 more in-grocery kiosks to Fred Meyer, Haggen, Safeway and Top Food & Drug stores in Washington and Oregon. Another four kiosks are scheduled this summer to go in Safeway stores in San Francisco.

With business going strong, The Shred Stop partnered with the National Forest Foundation to help restore 120 acres of forest... One dollar per every 10 pounds of paper shredded goes to the foundation’s Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign site in the Pacific Northwest: The “Majestic Methow” in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The project includes wilderness and backcountry habitat restoration, forest restoration and invasive plant removal. Trail restoration and maintenance to support sustainable recreational use as well as wildlife enhancement such as beaver reintroduction and wolverine monitoring are also part of the project.

A few different ideas for the partnership were discussed before a decision to support the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest project was made, said Kathleen Dowd-Gailey, Pacific Northwest regional director for the National Forest Foundation. The donations from The Shred Stop will go toward some invasive species removal and forest restoration work and will be matched by the Forest Service, she said.

An environmental focus has been part of The Shred Stop since its beginning. All of the shredded paper is recycled and repurposed. The kiosks themselves are over 99 percent recyclable and built using LED lighting and ultra-efficient electronics.

“I really like the idea of doing forest restoration because not only does it meet our personal environmental appetites but we’ve also dovetailed it well into our business,” Hershman said. “Not only are we recycling paper but a portion of what you’re paying is going to plant new trees and restore forests.”

Thanks to Kurt Badorf and Amy of the Business Journal for the article.

Q13 News Heads to Greenwood: Tax Season Looms and Fox News Covers Story of NW Entrepreneur Opening New Kiosks from The Shred Stop

Q13 news cameras rolled into a Seattle Fred Meyer store today to cover the news about a former Navy communications officer whose identity was stolen while he was stationed on board the USS Kentucky.  The vet, Stephen Hershman, became hyper-dilligent about destroying all papers so crooks couldn't strike again.  The process of burning out numerous home shredders led him to launch a new business: The Shred Stop. These shredding kiosks are lined up right by those CoinStars and RedBoxes in area markets.  Watch the story here and thanks to Q13. 

Seattle Times Story on How One Entrepreneur Had His Identity Stolen and Got Idea for New Business: The Shred Stop in Washington and Oregon

Reporter Sarah Elson's article in the Seattle Times today on Stephen Hershman's business The Shred Stop states, "ID theft leads to idea for shredding kiosks: Document-shredding kiosks are joining Coinstar and Redbox at local grocery stores."

It's not every day you dive, chin-deep into a pile of paper to tell your story.  Hershman was a good sport for this photo by Mark Harrison of the Seattle Times: "Shred Stop founder Stephen Hershman, posing in a bin of shredded paper, has created a business based on document shredding, placing shredder kiosks in grocery stores for use by consumers and small-business owners."

Thanks to Elson and Harrison for this great article.  Read it here.  And for scoping out where The Shred Stop nearest you is, visit www.TheShredStop.com.

Northwest Grown Business The Shred Stop on KOIN News CBS Portland: Company Opens More Kiosks in the Region

Thank you to KOIN 6 news for covering the news about our client The Shred Stop (www.theshredstop.com) and their expansion. Last week they opened new kiosks in Portland Fred Meyer Kroger stores and the Rose City CBS station was there to film it. 

After getting the call that document boxes of old tax returns had been found discarded off a road end myself a couple of years back, I can speak first-hand about why The Shred Stop is an excellent idea.

Watch the news story here about this company that is intent on helping you purge old files and safely dispose of personal documents quickly and affordably.

The Shred Stop Expands with New Partner Fred Meyer- Portland KXL News 101 Covers the Story

Thanks to the Portland press for covering the news about The Shred Stop expanding in the Portland market.  Here's the story that ran this morning during drive time.

What prompted the launch of The Shred Stop?  A phone call was the first clue that something was amiss. In 2003, Stephen Hershman’s cell phone service provider called to ask if he was satisfied with their customer service since he had opened seven new cell phone accounts the previous day. Stephen’s wife took that call because he was actually in a submerged submarine in the Pacific Ocean at the time. For most of the millions that fall victim to identity theft each year, it’s a long and painful process to undo the harm caused. But for Stephen this was particularly distressing because he was serving the US Navy as the USS KENTUCKY Communication Officer and was forced to leave his assigned duty to ensure his Top Secret security clearance wasn’t compromised. After getting dropped off by the submarine in Pearl Harbor and making his way home to Seattle, Stephen spent the next several frustrating months straightening out his credit, dealing with law enforcement, and trying to ensure his identity wasn’t stolen again. This experience led to him to take even more meticulous care disposing of confidential documents and anything with his name on it. Stephen burned out the motors on quite a few home shredders and became leery about drop-off or mobile shredding services where a 3rd party would be handling his documents before they were actually shredded. Thus the idea for his new business The Shred Stop was born.

After a few concept iterations− from shed-sized drive-thru’s to, ultimately, in-store kiosks− the first Shred Stop prototype was installed in 2009.  The company currently has twelve in-grocery kiosks at Haggens, Safeway, and Top Food & Drug stores in Washington; plus two kiosks already in Haggens in Oregon. The Shred Stop is growing. This week they installed more kiosks with their newest supermarket partner, Fred Meyer.