At any outdoor event — wedding, fundraiser, festival — there comes that “oh, no” moment when there’s not an indoor toilet in sight.
In short, party time has become potty time, and the options aren’t pretty: a messy, smelly portable toilet or ... just hold it.
Christine Sweeney, a 37-year-old Atlanta mom and former corporate sales executive looking to start her own company, saw the problem as a business opportunity. Her startup, Atlanta Watercloset, is now a year old and building buzz.
“I realized there was nothing between a restroom and a Porta-Potty,” she said.
Sweeney’s firm boldly goes where portable toilets normally don’t, renting units that feature hands-free flush toilets, hands-free sinks with running water, interior lighting, mirrors and coat hooks. There are optional extras such as fresh flowers, on-site attendants, mints and lotions. Event guests can walk a path marked by tiki torches to facilities obscured by lattice fencing and fronted with area rugs.
“They’re absolutely beautiful. There are all these touches you’d find in an upscale bathroom,” marveled Cindy Garber, who hired Atlanta Watercloset for a corporate birthday party on a farm in Newnan. “Normally,” she said, Porta-Potties “aren’t very nice. But I had guests who walked in there and stayed a while.”
The two main models cost $205 or $245, about double the price of a standard portable toilet. Frills add to the charge.
Sweeney, who left her corporate career to have her son, was itching to get back to work when she came upon a Massachusetts company that offered upscale outdoor toilets. She decided to launch her own in Atlanta. She felt the market here was optimal, given the long outdoor event season.
Many outdoor toilet companies focus on serving the construction industry, which doesn’t demand fresh flowers or scented soaps, or large outdoor events. Some offer upscale potties, but they don’t emphasize the service.
“She has a nice niche,” said Rob Adams, president of Southeast Site Services, which provides portable toilets for events including this weekend’s Atlanta Dogwood Festival.
A one-woman operation, Sweeney holds down her costs by working out of offices in Atlanta used by her husband, Eric, owner of Veribooks.
Sweeney said she’s making money, but that’s only part of it. “I’m really engaged in what I’m doing,” she said. “Why not make the bathroom at an outdoor event something nice?”
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