Dorm furniture for hire

As a solution to furnishing temporary dorm life, two students at Dartmouth College recently set up Evolving Vox, a temporary ownership network. Their company rents out furniture to students, enabling them to go through college without having to make large purchases for their rooms. They don’t have to worry about hauling furniture and appliances around, either — everything is dropped off and picked up for free. Evolving Vox offers everything from futons to TVs, all at affordable prices. A dorm-sized refrigerator, for example, goes for USD 35 per term. Since the company just got started, all items were brand new for the Fall ’06 semester. Anything that isn’t returned in mint condition will be reconditioned or sold. The company’s founders, Russell D’Souza and Jack Groetzinger, are hoping students will be more forgiving with furniture from home-grown Evolving Vox then they would with items from an impersonal rental company: “We see Evolving Vox as a community of Dartmouth students who share things amongst each other. We prefer the term ‘temporary ownership’ because we think it stresses this sense of community.” The concept is entirely in sync with what trendwatching.com dubs transumers — consumers moving away from ownership for a more transient lifestyle. Based on the company’s huge initial success at Dartmouth, its founders are pursuing the idea of expanding Evolving Vox. One for entrepreneurial students at universities everywhere!