Team Spotlight: Litterbox

We recently took time to sit down with Charlie Tanas, McCormick ‘24, CEO of LitterBox to learn more about the company and Charlie’s hopes for the company in the future.

What is LitterBox in its current form?

Our goal is to create convenient, affordable, and secure summer storage for Northwestern students. Moving out for the summer can be an incredibly stressful process and we hope to make that process a little easier, especially because it coincides with finals week.

How is the quarter going so far?

The quarter has been going well! We transitioned last year when the original founders graduated. Now, we have established our exec team and are introducing new interns to the company. So far this quarter we have been focusing on lots of cool marketing opportunities, I hope every Northwestern student knows about us as an option by the end of the spring quarter. One project I am super excited about is our partnership with 8 in the Box. We are going to partner with sports teams to create ads for the company in order to reach more students. We hope to improve our overall brand presence and let people know we are the fun company for summer storage.

Can you share a bit about your background and how you ended up in your current positions?

When I was in high school I loved to research startups and knew it was something I wanted to get involved in. Entering college I knew I wanted to pursue entrepreneurship but was not sure how. After learning about The Garage, I participated in start-up matchmaking and got involved with LitterBox. I had intentions of running the company eventually but wasn’t expecting to do it my freshman year. However, the opportunity was offered and here I am.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a company?

I think the challenge has been finding what we can do that is more than any other storage company. Really, we achieve the same overall tasks as our competitors. Lately, we have been interviewing people to understand what they are looking for when they pick a storage company. From there, we are hoping to find a pivot and differentiate ourselves.

What are you most proud of?

I am super proud that we were able to operate on our own last year. We had 160 customers and were on time for every order. We didn’t lose a single item. We really had to jump into something we didn’t know and just learn super quickly. 

How can people get involved or learn more?

The best thing to do is follow us on Instagram @litterboxstorage. We will keep everyone updated on events and this coming summer through Instagram.

Elizabeth Savin ’25 is a Manufacturing and Design Engineering major from Wilmette, IL. She is a student aide at The Garage and is excited to become involved in the programs The Garage offers students. Her favorite thing about The Garage is that students have the opportunity to receive hands-on experience with entrepreneurship.