From an industry that relies on packing houses to a business that literally helps you pack your house, local businessman and former ag industry business owner Matt Brown’s new venture seeks to make moving a snap.

Brown’s business, EZPak Bins, takes the boxes out of moving and replaces them with stackable, easy-to-move, easy-to-store plastic bins.

“We got this idea a few years ago when we moved into the house that my wife and I are currently at,” he said. “We had two young kids at home, I was working full time out at the ranch and she was working as a nurse.”

Brown’s children, then 2 and 5, now participate in youth sports in Fresno, and Brown said that the added stress of handling cardboard boxes and other storage methods would have added to the already difficult endeavor of moving with two children.

As opposed to cardboard boxes, the Browns opted to purchase plastic bins to pack up their house.

“We got some of these bins and we used them and it just kind of clicked,” he said. “She literally packed up our entire house in the span of two days.”

The ease of the move, assisted by the plastic containers, sparked an idea in the mind of Brown and his wife Elisa — an idea that, despite being put on hold for several years following the move, would eventually become the brainchild behind EZPak Bins.

Operating out of his home, Brown delivers bins personally to his customers, normally operating within a 25-mile radius. Bins are generally rented for two weeks, but Brown is willing to consider making exceptions on a case-to-case basis, delivering bins outside the regular coverage area and assisting customers that have special requests.

“I have one customer who booked it for like two months,” he said. “I think our system is only set up to go as long as four weeks, but anything longer than that they can contact me and I usually can work some kind of special deal for them.”

Valued at approximately $35 a bin, the bins are sturdy and well made. Brown says that since opening in August, no bins have been damaged. Although he does anticipate eventual wear and tear, he plans to handle damaged bins on a case-to-case basis.

“Accidents do happen; I’m not unreasonable,” he said. “We would expect people not to just throw them around and crack every one of them that they have.”

Brown’s new business venture not only offers customers the chance to save time and money on boxes and storage, but it also gave Brown and his family more personal time. Brown’s fertilizer business was far more time consuming and with two active children, the new opportunity also gave him more time to be with his family.

“We try to simplify this process —  hence the name EZPak Bins. We want to make everything easy because moving is literally the most stressful thing on the planet,” Brown said.

Bins can be reserved online or by phone. Packages range from 1-bedroom house/apartment packages including 25 bins for $99, to 5-bedroom house packages with 100 bins for $299. Additional time is also available and can be arranged online or by phone.

EZPak Bins can be reached online at ezpakbins.com or by phone at (559) 470-7904, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.