A van outfitted by Contravans. (Courtesy Contravans)
A campervan outfitter has rolled into Commerce City and is upgrading its offerings.
Contravans moved to a 9,000-square-foot space at 4950 Oneida St. over the summer, tripling its space. A partnership managed by The Warehouse Hotline owns the property.
“It’s not really comparable, this is significantly bigger and better,” Contravans owner Kurt Bradler said. “The old spot was much smaller and therefore we had to turn down a lot of business.”
In its former Arvada location, Bradler said the business could do about 25 custom van builds a year. Now, he anticipates hitting 50.
Outfitting vans is Contravan’s bread and butter, but it also sells vans. Since the move, Bradler said the business has added maintenance and repair work, and next year he plans on adding a “try before you buy” rental fleet.
“We’re not changing things so much as adding to it and increasing our capabilities,” Bradler said.
A van outfitted by Contravans. (Courtesy Contravans)
Bradler moved to Denver and helped start Contravans in 2018 after living out of his own van. He was in Chicago working as a management consultant before deciding to pack up and hit the road. He went back to his parents’ house in Ohio and built a campervan in their driveway.
“My mom, she was kind of freaking out,” Bradler said. “I think she thought I was having a midlife crisis, which it probably looked like.”
He drove around for a year and visited the typical “bucket list things” like the Grand Canyon and Key West, all the while scouting out his next place to live. He parked in Denver and met the founders of the rental company Native Campervans.
Bradler said Native was trying to start a sister company to build vans for people and asked him to help. He joined as a part-owner and helped launch Contravans. Bradler said Native exited the company soon after launch though, deciding it needed to focus on the rental business, and offered Bradler sole ownership.
Bradler said the van industry has come a long way since then. After a surge in vanlife during the pandemic, he said the market exploded.
He said the Ford Transit, which runs between $36,000 and $140,000 depending on the model and custom offerings, is the most popular van. Bradler said his customers have traditionally been older, but said recently it’s trending toward young people with transient jobs such as travel nurses.
“The market is bigger than it’s ever been and more popular than it’s ever been,” Bradler said. “We’re seeing things slowing but I think it’s more a result of increased competition as opposed to a decrease in interest.”
A van outfitted by Contravans. (Courtesy Contravans)
A campervan outfitter has rolled into Commerce City and is upgrading its offerings.
Contravans moved to a 9,000-square-foot space at 4950 Oneida St. over the summer, tripling its space. A partnership managed by The Warehouse Hotline owns the property.
“It’s not really comparable, this is significantly bigger and better,” Contravans owner Kurt Bradler said. “The old spot was much smaller and therefore we had to turn down a lot of business.”
In its former Arvada location, Bradler said the business could do about 25 custom van builds a year. Now, he anticipates hitting 50.
Outfitting vans is Contravan’s bread and butter, but it also sells vans. Since the move, Bradler said the business has added maintenance and repair work, and next year he plans on adding a “try before you buy” rental fleet.
“We’re not changing things so much as adding to it and increasing our capabilities,” Bradler said.
A van outfitted by Contravans. (Courtesy Contravans)
Bradler moved to Denver and helped start Contravans in 2018 after living out of his own van. He was in Chicago working as a management consultant before deciding to pack up and hit the road. He went back to his parents’ house in Ohio and built a campervan in their driveway.
“My mom, she was kind of freaking out,” Bradler said. “I think she thought I was having a midlife crisis, which it probably looked like.”
He drove around for a year and visited the typical “bucket list things” like the Grand Canyon and Key West, all the while scouting out his next place to live. He parked in Denver and met the founders of the rental company Native Campervans.
Bradler said Native was trying to start a sister company to build vans for people and asked him to help. He joined as a part-owner and helped launch Contravans. Bradler said Native exited the company soon after launch though, deciding it needed to focus on the rental business, and offered Bradler sole ownership.
Bradler said the van industry has come a long way since then. After a surge in vanlife during the pandemic, he said the market exploded.
He said the Ford Transit, which runs between $36,000 and $140,000 depending on the model and custom offerings, is the most popular van. Bradler said his customers have traditionally been older, but said recently it’s trending toward young people with transient jobs such as travel nurses.
“The market is bigger than it’s ever been and more popular than it’s ever been,” Bradler said. “We’re seeing things slowing but I think it’s more a result of increased competition as opposed to a decrease in interest.”
