Stasher Enables Travelers to Conveniently and Securely Store Their Luggage in Cities Worldwide

In a Nutshell: Carrying heavy luggage from one attraction to the next can diminish the excitement of sightseeing. Stasher provides options for luggage storage so people can go about their days unencumbered by physical baggage. The company offers its services in nearly 1,000 cities worldwide. Stasher solicits its customers for feedback to ensure its solutions meet their needs.  

Travelers planning their next vacation may have numerous details to consider, including which destination to visit and where to stay once they arrive. In all their planning, travelers may overlook where to temporarily store their luggage if they don’t have immediate access to their accommodations.

Anthony Collias and Jacob Wedderburn-Day were university students in 2015 when they noticed travelers needing temporary storage facilities for their luggage. At the time, Collias lived near King’s Crossing railway station in London. Friends would often ask Collias if they could leave their luggage at his apartment for a few hours to allow them to explore the city without having to tote their bags around with them.

Some of Collias’s fellow students even asked him if they could store their bags at his residence while they were away during school breaks. Collias and Wedderburn-Day soon realized that temporary luggage storage was a unique offering that they could potentially transform into a viable business venture. The duo started Stasher to serve the needs of travelers around the world.

We spoke with Wedderburn-Day, Stasher’s CEO and Co-Founder, to learn how the company helps travelers locate affordable spaces to store their luggage. Collias and Wedderburn-Day formed Stasher with the idea that travelers could store their luggage in people’s homes in exchange for a fee. Wedderburn-Day said that when Stasher tested this concept, the company found it wasn’t ideal.

“We pivoted to looking at shops and hotels — places that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Wedderburn-Day said. “It just made much more sense to use established businesses as storage locations. At the time, this was a totally new concept that hadn’t been done before, so it took a while to persuade businesses to get on board with the idea.”

Wedderburn-Day said he and Collias began building Stasher while completing school. At the end of 2016, Stasher raised funds to finance its operations. Wedderburn-Day said Stasher began to grow in 2017, and the business assembled its staff to keep pace with growth. The pandemic and its travel restrictions presented Stasher with challenges.

“We had a few good years before COVID,” Wedderburn-Day said. “The pandemic was really painful to our business and led to a few down years. But since that time, we’ve been properly rebuilding.”

Wedderburn-Day said establishing Stasher required him and his colleagues to walk around London to schedule in-person meetings with stores and hotels to educate them on the company’s business. As the company sought to establish partners, or hosts, internationally, it sent team members to meet with business owners in areas targeted for expansion. 

Wedderburn-Day said the pandemic motivated hotels and stores to become more proficient with technology. Stasher now connects with potential businesses remotely, increasing the efficiency of its expansion efforts. 

Businesses that become Stasher hosts receive compensation for storing bags. Wedderburn-Day said hosts also enjoy increased foot traffic in their stores from travelers who may be inclined to spend money in the place of business they’re storing their luggage in.

Stasher partners with more than 4,300 hosts in more than 75 countries. Wedderburn-Day said travelers store their luggage with Stasher hosts in almost 1,000 cities worldwide.

Stasher forges partnerships with businesses near transportation hubs, such as train stations, airports, and bus depots. Wedderburn-Day said the company offers travelers options to store their luggage in major tourist areas and areas surrounding stadiums, arenas, and concert venues.

Wedderburn-Day said many of Stasher’s customers learn of the company through online searches.

“We get a lot of customers who are just searching online for a place to temporarily store their luggage,” Wedderburn-Day said. “We’re now developing more of a partnership angle, which will allow travel companies to recommend using Stasher and offer customers a discount to try our service.”

Wedderburn-Day said Stasher offers customers a convenient and straightforward booking process. Customers can select storage locations for their luggage that provide features such as the ability to access luggage anytime. Wedderburn-Day said location is the factor customers value most when choosing a storage location.

“There’s not a lot that differentiates the customer experience,” Wedderburn-Day said. “It’s usually just about getting people to the nearest storage location as quickly as possible. We offer flat fees and don’t place restrictions on baggage size. It’s all about simplicity. We want customers to have a great experience and refer us to their friends and family.”

Stasher’s guarantee extends peace of mind to its customers. Wedderburn-Day said Stasher offers a fair recovery amount for any luggage lost or damaged while in the care of a Stasher host. Wedderburn-Day said it’s rare that anything detrimental happens to a customer’s luggage while it’s in storage.

“We’ve partnered to store over one million pieces of luggage, and only a handful of incidents have occurred that affected a customer’s luggage,” Wedderburn-Day said. “The Stasher Guarantee is our way of expressing to customers that they can trust us. We will put money on the table to make things right in the unfortunate event that something has gone wrong.”

Stasher charges customers per item stored per day. The company lists its pricing, which varies by country, on its website. Wedderburn-Day said Stasher’s prices compare favorably to those of other storage options travelers can access. 

“Customers may not be able to locate public lockers in many cities,” Wedderburn-Day said. “Those that do use a public locker may pay as much as two or three times the rate we charge.”

Wedderburn-Day said Stasher’s services are valuable to individuals who live in one part of a city and work in another.

“Many times, people can find themselves in a situation where they don’t want to go out of their way to find a safe place to store their belongings,” Wedderburn-Day said. “Maybe they have an event they’re going to after work, and they don’t have time to drop items off at home. Stasher provides convenience so people can get to their next activity without taking a detour.”

Stasher values customer feedback. Wedderburn-Day said in the company’s early days — when it offered customers the ability to store their bags in private residences — Stasher employees engaged with customers in person when they picked up their bags from storage.

Watch on

“We learned so much from those initial conversations,” Wedderburn-Day said. “Though our methods of collecting feedback have changed, it’s still very useful for us to keep in contact with our customers.”

Wedderburn-Day said Stasher regularly solicits feedback from customers via email. The company posts customer reviews on its website.

Stasher also engages with its hosts. Wedderburn-Day said the company holds conversations with hosts to learn how to serve them better and deliver the value hosts expect.

As Wedderburn-Day looks toward the future, he said he envisions Stasher expanding its services to more locations.

“In terms of coverage, we’re really just scratching the surface,” Wedderburn-Day said. “Even though we’re in most countries and cities, I think we’re really just getting started in a lot of places. One of our goals is to get our brand out there more. We want to be the brand on peoples’ minds when they think of solving storage issues for luggage.”