Meanwhile, Stay Alfred’s rental inventory grew to more than 2,500 units in 33 cities by the end of 2019, up from 1,500 units in 32 cities at the beginning of 2019. This time last year, Stay Alfred brought on veteran business executive Steve Helmbrecht as president and chief financial officer. Sullivan in Spokane Valley, in part of the former Itron Inc. Before issuing furloughs, the company had a total of 221 employees, with 146 based here. Like many hospitality companies, Stay Alfred stopped renting properties once COVID-19 reached U.S. “If we were doing this again, we would’ve looked to have owned more buildings,” he says. In retrospect, Allen says, the rental aspect exposed a “fundamental crack” in the business model. The experience kickstarted the idea to start a short-term rental company. He found a condominium to accommodate friends and family just blocks from Coors Field. Army from 2005 to 2012, told the Journal in 2015 that while on two weeks’ leave from serving in Afghanistan, he searched for lodging in downtown Denver during a visit to watch the Colorado Rockies baseball team. The company used a variety of websites to advertise the rentals.Īllen, who served in the U.S. Stay Alfred managed vacation rental properties for owners in exchange for a commission fee. “We were trying to sell off assets, but there just aren’t a lot of buyers out there,” he says. 1 as the date travelers could begin booking with the company again.Īllen says the last two weeks revealed that goal wouldn’t be attainable. The company topped the $100 million mark in revenue in 2019, up from $66.5 million in 2018, and $25.2 million in 2016, as previously reported by the Journal.Įarlier this month, a Stay Alfred spokeswoman told the Journal the company planned to continue operating but would do so with a reduced staff and smaller national footprint of units. “It’s amazing to think that a $100 million company in Spokane, Washington, could be wiped out by a virus from Wuhan, China.” And now, it’s over,” says Allen, who was a Journal of Business Rising Star in 2016. “At one point, we were a $100 million company. As recently as early March, Allen and his leadership team were meeting with investors in attempts to secure a round of funding that would have generated up to $30 million, he says. The only thing that exceeds the 8-year-old company’s meteoric rise is its precipitous fall.

“My heart’s broken in a lot of ways,” Allen told the Journal in a videoconference interview on Wednesday, May 20. Stay Alfred Inc., a one-time darling of Spokane’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, is closing its doors permanently, says Jordan Allen, founder and CEO of the short-term rental company.Īllen says the company couldn’t stay afloat after the coronavirus pandemic-and resulting travel bans-abruptly stopped the company’s ability to generate revenue and new investor interest dissipated.

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