Katrina Gallagher of Home to Home Rental offers online baby gear rental and local delivery. / Staff photo by Emily CrismanAnyone who's ever traveled with a baby knows there's an arsenal of gear that must come along for the ride as well.
As a stay-at-home mother of four, Katrina Gallagher is well versed in the complications of traveling with little ones. The local resident still has family back home in Michigan, and knows what it's like to pile into a car full of baby gear.
She launched her business, Home to Home Rental, almost a year ago with the goal of making life easier for traveling parents - along with the family members they visit - while also supplementing her family's income.
Through Home to Home, parents traveling to Chattanooga and locals being visited by babies can rent everything tiny humans require, including full-size cribs, strollers, high chairs and baby carriers. The gear is delivered to and set up at their home, hotel or vacation rental, eliminating the need to travel with bulky items. Home to Home then picks up all the gear on departure day.
Katrina Gallagher of Home to Home Rental offers online baby gear rental and local delivery. / Staff photo by Emily Crisman
Rentals can be reserved directly through the Home to Home website as well as through online baby gear platform BabyQuip.com.
While Gallagher's business has steadily grown along with the booming vacation rental industry, she said she feels most parents and grandparents still aren't aware that baby gear rentals are available.
"I love doing it, and I hope it will explode a lot more," she said.
Home to Home has expanded to offer other services, such as setting up nursing stations, changing stations and kids' zones at events. The business also rents other items, such as lawn games and a wheelchair - a purchase Gallagher made when her husband's grandfather, who can't walk for long periods, came for a visit and they were unable to find a place that would rent a wheelchair so they could take him to the zoo.
Items can be rented individually or by the package, and packages can be customized to meet specific needs. Home to Home delivers anywhere in the downtown Chattanooga area for a $20 fee, and to surrounding areas such as Signal Mountain, Ooltewah and Hixson for $30. The delivery fee is waived for clients willing to meet her at the Wal-Mart in Fort Oglethorpe.
"I'm not here to rip people off or make a killing; I just want to make it easy for families to travel stress-free," said Gallagher.
For more information or to rent, visit hometohomerental.com.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.