diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 1972852..e746e10 100755
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import sys
 import time
 
-import psycopg2
 import pyspark
 
 import logger
@@ -20,23 +19,6 @@ def get_arg(env, default):
     return os.getenv(env) if os.getenv(env, '') is not '' else default
 
 
-def make_connection(host='127.0.0.1', port=5432, user='postgres',
-                    password='postgres', dbname='postgres'):
-    """Connect to a postgresql db."""
-    return psycopg2.connect(host=host, port=port, user=user,
-                            password=password, dbname=dbname)
-
-
-def build_connection(args):
-    """Make the db connection with an args object."""
-    conn = make_connection(host=args.host,
-                           port=args.port,
-                           user=args.user,
-                           password=args.password,
-                           dbname=args.dbname)
-    return conn
-
-
 def parse_args(parser):
     """Parsing command line args."""
     args = parser.parse_args()
@@ -96,15 +78,13 @@ def main(arguments):
 
     # set up SQL connection
     try:
-        con = build_connection(arguments)
+        data_loader = storage.PostgresDataLoader(arguments)
     except IOError:
         loggers.error("Could not connect to data store")
         sys.exit(1)
 
     # fetch the data from the db
-    cursor = con.cursor()
-    cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM ratings")
-    ratings = cursor.fetchall()
+    ratings = data_loader.fetchall()
     loggers.info("Fetched data from table")
     # create an RDD of the ratings data
     ratingsRDD = sc.parallelize(ratings)
@@ -154,20 +134,14 @@ def main(arguments):
 
         # check to see if new model should be created
         # select the maximum time stamp from the ratings database
-        cursor.execute(
-            "SELECT timestamp FROM ratings ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 1;"
-            )
-        checking_max_timestamp = cursor.fetchone()[0]
+        checking_max_timestamp = data_loader.latest_timestamp()
         loggers.info(
             "The latest timestamp = {}". format(checking_max_timestamp))
 
         if checking_max_timestamp > max_timestamp:
             # build a new model
             # first, fetch all new ratings
-            cursor.execute(
-                "SELECT * FROM ratings WHERE (timestamp > %s);",
-                (max_timestamp,))
-            new_ratings = cursor.fetchall()
+            new_ratings = data_loader.fetchafter(max_timestamp)
             max_timestamp = checking_max_timestamp
             new_ratingsRDD = sc.parallelize(new_ratings)
             new_ratingsRDD = new_ratingsRDD.map(lambda x: (x[1], x[2], x[3]))
diff --git a/storage.py b/storage.py
index c9952d3..82dae4b 100644
--- a/storage.py
+++ b/storage.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from abc import ABCMeta, abstractmethod
-from pymongo import MongoClient
 import datetime
+import psycopg2
+from pymongo import MongoClient
 
 
 class ModelWriter:
@@ -63,3 +64,88 @@ def write(self, model, version):
                 'model_id': version,
                 'id': feature[0],
                 'features': list(feature[1])})
+
+
+class DataLoader:
+    """
+    Abstract class for a Data Store loader.
+    Implement backend specific loaders as a subclass.
+    """
+    __metaclass__ = ABCMeta
+
+    def __init__(self, arguments):
+        """
+        :param arguments: The database specific connection arguments
+        """
+        self._arguments = arguments
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def fetchall(self):
+        """
+        Returns all ratings in the database. Each rating must be in form
+        `(userid, productid, rating) and in a collection type that Spark's
+        `parallelize` can accept (e.g. `List`)
+        :return: A collection of ratings, each with a user, product and rating.
+        """
+        pass
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def latest_timestamp(self):
+        """
+        Returns the timestamp for the most recent (chronologically)
+        rating in the database.
+        :return: A timestamp
+        """
+        pass
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def fetchafter(self, timestamp):
+        """
+        Returns all ratings (in the same format as `fetchall`) added after
+        `timestamp`.
+        :param timestamp: A timestamp
+        :return: A collection of ratings, each with a user, product and rating.
+        """
+        pass
+
+
+class PostgresDataLoader(DataLoader):
+    """
+    Data store loader for a PostgreSQL backend.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, arguments):
+        super(PostgresDataLoader, self).__init__(arguments)
+        self._connection = self._build_connection(arguments)
+        self._cursor = self._connection.cursor()
+
+    def _make_connection(self, host='127.0.0.1', port=5432, user='postgres',
+                         password='postgres', dbname='postgres'):
+        """Connect to a postgresql db."""
+        return psycopg2.connect(host=host, port=port, user=user,
+                                password=password, dbname=dbname)
+
+    def _build_connection(self, args):
+        """Make the db connection with an args object."""
+        conn = self._make_connection(host=args.host,
+                                     port=args.port,
+                                     user=args.user,
+                                     password=args.password,
+                                     dbname=args.dbname)
+        return conn
+
+    def fetchall(self):
+        self._cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM ratings")
+        return self._cursor.fetchall()
+
+    def latest_timestamp(self):
+        self._cursor.execute(
+            "SELECT timestamp FROM ratings ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 1;"
+        )
+        return self._cursor.fetchone()[0]
+
+    def fetchafter(self, timestamp):
+        self._cursor.execute(
+            "SELECT * FROM ratings WHERE (timestamp > %s);",
+            (timestamp,))
+        return self._cursor.fetchall()