When Dimitri Mortsakis entered the moving and storage industry, he saw a massive opportunity for innovation and growth.
“It’s a very archaic industry,” Mortsakis said. “I think it can be done in a more transparent and better way.”
His passion and drive rocketed him to the top seat of CRS Moving & Storage, a multi-million dollar company based in New York City. At only 28—going on 29—Mortsakis is changing the game as one of the youngest players in the industry.
“My benefit is that I move extremely quickly,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is that I’m able to learn rapidly and sponge up everything I can about the business, the industry, and new technologies.”
Michael Varoukas, his old business partner and founding partner of CRS, built the company with a foundation of transparency and professionalism that Mortsakis continues to expand.
“Sometimes, movers don’t do things the right way and I want to make sure that we do,” he said. “We go to market being the most exceptional solutions partner out there. We don’t want to be the cheapest, but we definitely want to have the best reputation and make sure our clients are the happiest.”
Mortsakis and CRS remain top leaders in the industry as they adeptly handle any challenges the company faces.
While the COVID-19 pandemic affected most businesses in Mortsakis’ industry, CRS avoided negative impacts to their business due to his leadership and innovative approach to tackling new challenges.
During the initial shutdown, Mortsakis and his leadership team got together to discuss the future of the business.
“We asked ourselves: ‘If moving stopped today, what other services are going to keep going?’”
The team analyzed their existing services and adapted them to fit the needs of businesses impacted by the pandemic. For example, CRS began offering cleaning and janitorial services because their furniture installation team already had experience cleaning carpets and workstations. They also found partners that could provide plexiglass barriers and sneeze guards that they could then install on job sites.
“We wanted to make sure that we could rapidly provide that service and stay top of mind for our clients,” Mortsakis said. “We had to find different ways to provide value to our customers.”
Although the world has largely returned to normal, Mortsakis sees incredible value in continuing to diversify the business to offer his clients full-service packages. In addition to moving, their solutions also include furniture installation, furniture liquidation, and disconnecting and reconnecting office technology.
“A lot of our clients don’t want to have the burden of the project,” Mortsakis said. “They want to pass it off to someone they know, like, and trust. Our clients know we’re going to do an exceptional job while they deal with the other stuff on their plate.”
When asked about the success of his business, Mortsakis believes it comes down to having strong core values and a highly-qualified team.
“We focus on professionalism, best-in-class service, and transparency,” Mortsakis said. “The leadership team we have here at CRS has over 100 years of combined experience in the moving and storage industry. Investing in having the right people in the right seat makes a huge difference in the long run as we continue to expand.”
Looking to the future, Mortsakis sees CRS as the largest and most well-known mover in Manhattan within the next ten years.
“I believe if you’re not growing, you won’t survive long-term,” Mortsakis said.
Despite his overwhelming success and rapid rise through the ranks, Mortsakis is down-to-earth and believes that ambition, hard work, and empathy are at the core of who he is.
“People are in business for a lot of different reasons,” Mortsakis said. “But businesses are run by people. While it’s important to take care of the business so everyone can benefit, it’s also important to be empathetic when you can because everyone has something going on behind the scenes.”
