Monkey Bar Storage Systems began in 2002, when its founder Jared Newman created and patented an innovative shelving system.
Centered on a distinctive approach to organizing garage interiors, the company calls itself a "Garage Enhancement Company." And so do consumers, who have driven up Monkey Bar Storage sales exponentially. Under CEO Kris Nielson, operations ramped up dramatically to meet demand. Its popularity among homeowners required development of a network of dealers and direct sales to keep up with demand. Nielson also saw that integrating sales into manufacturing and fulfillment would be critical to scale up the firm for success. Now headquartered in Rexburg Idaho, an hour outside of Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park, Monkey Bar Storage Systems is passionate about helping bring order, wholeness, and wellness to peoples’ lives by facilitating and encouraging orderly environments and organizations.
Nielson structured Monkey Bar Storage to begin equipping other small business owners to start their own ventures into the garage organizing business. Now the company has a broad team of dealers and direct sales channels nationwide, with more than 120 locations, offering the highest quality products on the market including flooring, custom cabinets, mobile workbenches, motorized overhead storage, racks, shelving and more.
An example of Monkey Bar Storage garage cabinetry
As Monkey Bars expanded, Nielson facilitated its growth by driving efficiency through strategic leadership development. Each dealer Monkey Bars signs is highly trained and equipped through their refined dealer onboarding process. With the rising success of dealerships through this training, Monkey Bars production rate has consistently risen.
Nielson's background in entrepreneurship led to further success as he championed the use of data-driven analytics to secure Monkey Bars growth as they ventured into the cabinet industry. Forecasting the industry's expansion, Monkey Bar Storage was equipped with several CNC machines, edgebanders and saws, and now operates a pair of 30,000 square foot facilities.
With an innovative spirit, Monkey Bars has consistently remained a step ahead in a growing industry. Through accelerating innovation, advanced software technologies, enabling profitable growth, and delivering a superior customer experience, Monkey Bar Storage has become a cornerstone of the garage organization industry. It's heavy-duty cabinetry is built for the garage environment, with one-inch thick shelves that can support 100 lbs., robust edgebanding, and heavy-duty slides and hinges.
Nielson's deep understanding of both the organization business and effective leadership has been key to his success. He is well known for leading teams that consistently deliver their objectives with a high degree of innovation and customer satisfaction. From production to the customer experience, each of Monkey Bar's processes requires a high level of precision and efficiency.
To maintain this standard Monkey Bar Storage houses its own software development team, and has deployed multiple software programs to optimize operations, including a Manufacturing Execution System to track parts and integrate production across the shop floor. As a result, Monkey Bar has been able to reduce on-hand raw materials investment, increase throughput and reduce customer-to-production lead times. Nielson will detail the system during a session at the 2019 Executive Briefing Conference in San Jose this April. Nielson got started in the business while a junior in college pursuing his business degree - and brought an intense focus and high energy to building the business through dramatic growth.
“Individuals who possess the drive to innovate before the opportunity becomes unduly burdensome and who are comfortable with disruption - especially when told it can’t be done - are what an entrepreneurial spirit is all about,” Nielson says.
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