The self-storage industry in Russia is quite young, a little more than 10 years old. The first facility opened in Moscow in 2007. The service has proven to be in demand and continues to grow. Every year new players appear in the market, and those already established as network operators are opening new stores. Service has also begun to spread outside the big cities.
Industry Growth
The Association of Self Storage Companies (ASSC) was established in 2013 as a consolidated network of facility operators. Its mission is to establish rules of the business as it grows, agree on united marketing strategies and popularize the service in Russia. It has identified the following market trends in Moscow:
- At the end of 2018, there were 62 self-storage facilities in the city, with rentable space of 157,119 square feet. They are operated by 23 providers.
- Nine new facilities opened last year.
- The average rentable space is 2,600 square meters.
- The average occupancy is 70 percent, with a client base typically made up of 80 percent individuals and 20 percent businesses.
- The average unit size is 5 square meters, and the most common lease term is five months.
- The industry leaders in Moscow based on rentable space and number of sites are Skladovka, Citi-Box, Alfasklad, Rentabox and Homesklad.
![Matsneva chart.jpg]( "Matsneva chart.jpg")
Investing
Eighty percent of the self-storage market is invested with Russian funds, with only 20 percent coming from foreign sources. There are three ways in which people can invest:
- Build on owned land (difficult to implement)
- Buy an existing property with the intent to redevelop it to self-storage
- Rent an existing property and outfit it to offer self-storage
The Russian self-storage market is in a stage of rapid growth, according to ASSC President Dmitry Mayer. “There are some major players with serious investments in building new, modern self-storage facilities. At the same time, beginners are making their attempts to enter the business on rented spaces,” he says.
“It’s guaranteed that the self-storage market will have another few years of rapid growth, and in the nearest five to seven years, the service will start to spread in the regions outside Moscow. The future remains at the companies with greater investment capacity and those with high customer focus.”
Natalia Matsneva is the executive director of the Association of Self Storage Companies and chief operating officer of Homesklad, which operates three facilities in Moscow. For more information, e-mail [email protected]; visit www.homesklad.ru.
