Several weeks ago, we posted a guest blog from a gentleman who is embarking on a journey to build one of Moscow's first self-storage facilities. Just last week, I read an article in The Moscow Times about KeySpace Self Storage, which is putting the finishing touches on a Moscow facility of its own. Seems like the Russian capital is on the fast-track to storage expansion.
And this is often how things go with self-storage markets: from zero to saturated in 60 seconds. I'm sure Moscow has a long way to go to reach that level of development. But it wasn't that long ago the European market, for example, was bereft of storage. Now there's a Federation of European Self Storage Associations and a healthy industry representation across the Continental Mainland. Here are some facility counts from FEDESSA's website:
- Belgium: 21 member facilities
- Czech Republic: 2 member facilities
- Denmark: 21 member facilities
- Finland: 20 member facilities
- France: 90 member facilities, 165 estimated total facilities
- Germany: 28 member facilities, 40 estimated total facilities
- Italy: 24 member facilities
- Sweden: 25 member facilities, 40 estimated total facilities
- Netherlands: 82 member facilities, 108 estimated total facilities
- United Kingdom: 400 member facilities, 700 estimated total facilities
- Spain: 38 member facilities, 45 estimated total facilities
- Switzerland: 4 member facilities
Some of you may remember Inside Self-Storage made a foray into the European market a few years back. The industry there was budding, and we hoped to serve. First, we hosted a reception at the U.S. Embassy in London to rub elbows with local real estate developers and investors, in hopes of opening doors of communication. A year later, we hosted a conference and tradeshow in Amsterdam, a small but successful show that taught us more about the needs of that market.
In the end, we decided the European industry needed time to grow and mature before we could most effectively provide educational resources to its diverse member base. That time may be approaching, however. The number of inquiries we receive from international owners and operators grows continually, and vendors report increasing success too.
So watch for these subtle but significant indicators of a global self-storage landscape. Our professional community will no doubt change over time as we cater to ever more cultures and markets. Today Moscow, tomorrow maybe Minsk, Monaco and Maputo.