Two Men and a Junk Truck opens in Stevens Point

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 8, 2025

STEVENS POINT – When Nick Bailey began working as a mover more than 20 years ago for Two Men and a Truck while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he said he never imagined it would turn into a long-term career.

However, more than two decades later, Bailey is still with the company and recently launched a Two Men and a Junk Truck operation, the franchise’s sister brand, in Stevens Point – also serving Wausau, Baraboo, Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids and Schofield.

“Two Men and a Junk Truck offers full-service junk removal for homes and businesses, from furniture and appliance pickup to donation, recycling and debris cleanouts,” he said. “The new location gives Stevens Point residents a reliable and responsible way to clear clutter while supporting sustainable disposal practices.”

Bailey said Two Men and a Junk Truck handles jobs of all sizes, covering a wide range of tasks and challenges.

“It completely runs the gamut on what a job might look like,” he said. “Some of these jobs get really, really big, but a lot of them are just going to a house and getting rid of the old sofa or taking a few things out of the garage. There is quite a variety in what we do.”

Having worked with Two Men and a Truck for more than 20 years, Company President Randy Shacka said Bailey is the “perfect fit for the sister brands.”

“We love sharing our story, and I love sharing great stories of our franchise owners, too,” he said. “Nick has been a long-standing owner in Two Men and a Truck and one who truly exudes our values and our core purpose. It’s good to see good people like him continuing to grow and providing more opportunities for his team as they expand further.”

Why Stevens Point?

Though Two Men and a Truck and Two Men and a Junk Truck can operate independently, Bailey said he only runs junk operations in locations where he also offers moving services.

“From an advertising and branding perspective, I love the fact that the words ‘Two Men and a Truck’ are contained in ‘Two Men and a Junk Truck,’” he said. “I’m really happy with the speed at which things have taken off – there is a lot of need out there.”

In addition to the Stevens Point area, Bailey said there are also franchises in Eau Claire and La Crosse.

“We always have our eyes open for other locations,” he said. “Because we had gone into the Eau Claire and La Crosse areas a few years before, and that was going well, we decided to first open a Two Men and a Truck location in Stevens Point in 2024. From there, we added the junk portion.”

Having family in Waupaca and Wild Rose, Bailey said, gave him some familiarity with Stevens Point and the surrounding area.

“Stevens Point is going really well,” he said. “There are a lot of factors to that – obviously, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is there, and that’s a huge driver of things. From my perspective, Stevens Point has a pretty thriving economy, so it was not a hard decision. It just takes a while to build out where you’re at. We had been building our [Minneapolis] locations, but we always knew we wanted to branch out more into Wisconsin.”

Nothing new

Though the concept of having moving companies haul away unwanted items is not new, Bailey said it’s something most people don’t consider.

“It’s not terribly unlike moving in that it’s a ton of work to get this stuff out of a garage, a basement or an attic,” he said. “Once you get the junk out, then what do you do with it afterward? We take care of removal and disposal.”

With four decades of experience, Bailey said Two Men and a Truck has been able to leverage that expertise to boost the junk removal side of the business.

“It definitely helps because Two Men and a Truck has a solid reputation and is a trusted brand, but I think it’s more than that,” he said. “It’s been a lot of work doing the right thing over and over again for a long time and building that trust in the community.”

Shacka said the concept of Two Men and a Junk Truck was developed more than two years ago through feedback gathered from current moving clients.

“We asked, ‘What else would you trust the brand for?’” he said. “That could be anything from hanging TVs to doing deliveries of appliances, etc. We also asked, ‘Would you trust us to haul away unwanted items?’ By far, that option came back as the No. 1 thing – outside and separate from anyone needing to move.”

Shacka said though the company removes unwanted items for customers, they don’t always go to the landfill – many are donated to local charities to meet community needs.

“For example, a couch or other piece of furniture might not fit in someone’s house, but it might still be in good shape,” he said. “We work with local community organizations to repurpose items into new homes. We do our best to keep as much as we can out of the landfills.”

Humble beginnings

Bailey said he and his father opened their first Minnesota location of Two Men and a Truck in 1999 and have since built a successful multi-unit operation across the Twin Cities and St. Cloud.

“That’s when it really began for me,” he said. “I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, and my family had a furniture store there forever. It was in the family for a long time, but around the time I was attending/graduating from UW-Madison, we closed that down.”

With the furniture store closed, Bailey said his father was looking for a way to stay busy.

“He was looking into franchising, and I happened to have this job at Two Men at a Truck, so he started looking into that,” he said. “He’s really the one who got the wheels going as far as looking into this as a realistic possibility, because for me at that point, [Two Men and a Truck] was still just a job for me to make some extra money in college.”

Once they were approved to open Two Men and a Truck in Minnesota, Bailey said he and his father dedicated themselves entirely to its success.

“We first opened in March 1999 in Burnsville, Minnesota, which is a southern suburb of Minneapolis,” he said. “We’ve been on this journey for 26 years now.”

Currently, Shacka said there are about 400 Two Men and a Truck locations and 70 Two Men and a Junk Truck locations.

“We have locations in the U.S., Canada and then over in Ireland,” he said. “It’s been rapid growth from the original two men who started the company in Lansing, Michigan.”

Shacka said now that Two Men and a Junk Truck is more than two years old, it brings a renewed sense of energy to the original moving side of the business.

“We have a brand that’s 40 years old and now having almost like a new start-up that’s two years old,” he said. “It’s really exciting and energizing because you get to see something from the ground up that you build with the same focus.”

For more information on the two brands, visit twomenandatruck.com.