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.
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