HELENA — After more than 70 years serving Helena, Capital Transfer and Storage has officially closed its doors, marking the end of a third-generation family business that became a longtime fixture in the community.
For operations manager John Horne, the closure is about far more than a warehouse shutting down. It’s the end of a lifetime spent serving customers, working alongside family, and building relationships that stretched across generations.
Inside the building, boxes, old photographs, and walls covered in thank-you cards tell the story of a company that began in 1949 and grew into a trusted name in residential and commercial moving, warehousing, shipping, and storage.
Horne says walking away from the business has been emotional.
“Well the closing part is the hard part, I spent years and years, it’s all I've ever done,” Horne said.
Like many longtime businesses, Capital Transfer and Storage faced growing challenges in recent years. Horne says the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the industry and made it increasingly difficult to find workers.
“COVID changed everything,” Horne said.
“It doesn't seem to help so I'm struggling like everyone else, just trying to find good competent help,” he added.
But Horne says the business was never simply about moving furniture or storing boxes. For him, customer service always came first.
“Our goal was always service. I tried to keep our prices down, but my goal was to do the very best job we could at the least amount of money we could, for them,” Horne said.
That approach is still reflected throughout the office, where decades of handwritten cards and letters from customers remain on display.
Now, as the final family member involved in the business, Horne is overseeing the difficult process of emptying the warehouse and shutting the company down for good.
“Now at the very end im the last family member, taken care of emptying out the warehouse and getting it shut down. So it’s almost like it’s come full circle back to where I started,” Horne said.
Capital Transfer and Storage officially closed on July 1. As the warehouse is cleaned out, Horne says the company has begun auctioning off equipment and remaining items from the building. Another auction is scheduled for August.
After decades in business, Horne says what he will remember most is not the trucks or the warehouse, but the loyal customers and relationships built over the years.
