Industry moving and storage Founded 1980 | Key people Larry O'Toole, CEO Type of business private | |
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Headquarters Somerville, Massachusetts, United States Profiles | ||
Gentle Giant Moving Company, Inc. is a national moving company based in Somerville, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1980 by Larry O'Toole. In its over 30-year existence, it has expanded from a single truck business in Massachusetts to opening offices across the United States, including New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Washington state, California, Chicago, Philadelphia, and its newest office in Miami, Florida. The company won the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award in 2002. On July 1, 2008, Gentle Giant announced its further expansion by purchasing the Seattle-based residential moving company TempStore Moving Company.
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Community outreach
The company has been a continuing supporter of the Gentle Giant Rowing Club, located in Somerville, Massachusetts. The club was started by former Gentle Giant movers with the financial backing of Gentle Giant Moving Company. The rowing club gives city teens a chance to learn about and compete in the sport of rowing.
Connection to rowing
Gentle Giant was founded by Northeastern University rowers and has continued its rich tradition of supporting rowing. In the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, two former giants, Dan Walsh and Wyatt Allen, competed in the Men's Eight event, earning a bronze medal in the process. Another former giant, Matt Muffelman, earned a seat in Lightweight Men's Eight event in the 2008 World Rowing Championships, earning a gold medal in the process. Many other former giants have earned spots on various national teams, including 30 US National Team, 10 foreign national team members, and 14 Olympians, including 1984 Olympic silver medalist and Gentle Giant's crate builder Tom Kiefer. In the company's history, it has employed over 400 rowers.
Popular culture
In 2005, Gentle Giant was selected by Al Roker Productions to be featured in a 10-episode reality TV series on the Discovery Home Channel (recently renamed the Planet Green network) called Make Your Move. This series documented the process of moving one's home or office and the experiences associated with it, from both the customer's perspective and the mover's perspective.
In the movie The Departed, Detective Sergeant Sullivan's girlfriend Madolyn used Gentle Giant boxes when she was packing her old apartment to move into Sullivan's apartment.