According to the St. Louis dbusinessnews.com site, industry operator StorageMart has issued a "Crazy Tuesday" alert for the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Apparently, there's a particularly high demand for storage units on that occasion. Any idea why that is? Company president Chris Burnam identified it as the storage industry's equivalent to day-after-Thanksgiving retail mayhem, but failed to explain why he believes that to be true. Spring cleaning? Post-BBQ purge? Making way for the new summer wardrobe?
Yesterday, I addressed the issue of self-storage security and the somewhat unorthodox approach of inviting law-enforcement K-9s to a storage site for training as a means of deterring and detecting crime. Some customers have gotten their panties in a bunch about this method, but operators would be wise to explore every security option available. Storage facilities continue to be a target for the world's unsavory element, and we can't afford to shun any avenues of support.
For example, this week there was a bomb scare at a storage facility in West Salinas, Calif. Luckily, the suspect item was just a military illumination device; but it wouldn't be the first time such a threat was detected at at storage site. Many of you may be following the trial of seven U.K. men accused of storing ammonium-nitrate fertilizer at a London-suburb facility with the intent of creating explosives. (See my post from 3.24.06). The defendants still deny the allegations.
The point is you can't be too careful. Storage is a solitary business, one that not only caters to significant life change but harbors a dark side as well. Privacy and quiet can be soil to the seeds of criminality. I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Be ever vigilant (without being pushy or meddlesome, of course), and your business will benefit.