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Porch Box grand workshop opening on June 2

Porch Box is having their ribbon cutting ceremony on June 2 for their new workshop space in Longmont.

It took 15 years after the first box was made but Porch Box co-proprietor and principal box maker, Eric Stenner, is ready for the brick and mortar’s grand opening. 

Previously, Eric Stenner built the boxes in his basement with his family. However, two months ago he and his wife, Heather Stenner, also co-proprietor of Porch Box, opened their first location at 1115 Colorado Ave. in Longmont. 

The company began in 2006 after the married couple received a milk box from a company in Fort Collins. They did not feel like the insulated cooler represented who they were, or made their porch at their cottage house in Old Town look aesthetically pleasing. 

“So my husband and our daughter went to our workshop and they built the first Porch Box and then the neighbors wanted one, and then the school wanted one,” Heather Stenner said. 

In 2006, the first Porch Box was made. In 2016, the company expanded to a website, and now Porch Boxes are shipped nationwide. 

Porch boxes are made from wood and house siding. They can be painted any color a customer wants, and the boxes can be made any size. There is also an option to buy a box with a lock. The boxes can be made with a slanted lid to look more like a mailbox as well or for the rain to run off. 

“We build handcrafted wooden boxes for deliveries and storage. We really build a quality product,” Heather Stenner said. 

Heather Stenner also believes her product would cause a reduction in porch piracy. 

“If everyone in your neighborhood had a porch box and someone who was walking down the street who was a porch pirate had to go up to every house and open it to see if there was a delivery, it would be kind of obvious that they were a porch pirate,” Heather Stenner said. 

Four months ago, the company hired their first employee, now The ribbon cutting ceremony offers an opportunity to celebrate how far they have come, and their new employees. 

“It's kind of a two fold celebration. We will have tacos and margaritas and just to get the word out and celebrate the people who helped us get here, from our vendors, to our local customers. We try to hire locally for all of our design and marketing,” Heather Stenner said. 

There will be giveaways at the ribbon cutting, the largest being a porch box. The company also partnered with Annie and Millie’s Place, a local nonprofit organization, which aims to bring awareness to human and animal homelessness. 

Every pet box that the Stenners sell from their website that is delivered to a Colorado location, will include free backpacks. The backpacks are to be given to homeless people with animals, and it offers resources that can help locate pet clinics and health care.

“Our customers are obviously people who have a home or that rent and have a porch or driveway to put a porch box on. We know that not everyone is that fortunate, so that was something important to us that we wanted to support locally,” Heather Stenner said. 

There are a lot of competitors out there, but Heather Stenner argues that what sets her company apart, is the ability for the customer to make any box they want. The boxes are completely customizable. 

“We personalize wooden boxes that are literally made by hand, and we get our wood, it's an eco-friendly product,” Heather said. 

Overall the company's goal is to help America stay organized with aesthetically pleasing boxes for a customer's porch, according to Heather Stenner. 

“We let our customers be the artist, and we just provide the canvas,” Heather Stenner said.