By Hayden Harrison

Changes in the U.K.'s housing market have been an advantage for Safestore Holdings PLC, a U.K. self-storage operator. As more people rent dwellings and refurbish their homes instead of moving, more are using storage facilities.

In 2011, Safestore's occupancy grew by 268,000 square feet. This increase put the company at its record occupancy of 3.21 million square feet, approximately half of which is residential customers. However, theyre staying an average two weeks less than at the year end in October 2010.

"The big change which has taken place in the housing market has led to a particularly buoyant rental sector, particularly in London," said Peter Gowers, Safestores CEO. "This benefits self-storage because rental occupiers tend to move every 18 months to two years, compared with owner-occupiers who move every seven years. Also, people are moving to smaller flats due to higher rental prices."

Last year, personal inquiries for rental grew 17 percent, making up 91 percent of all inquiries. This increase is due to more people renting and refurbishing. According to a Safestore moving trends survey, 73 percent of homeowners are considering renovating or extending their property instead of moving.

In addition to personal usage increasing, the use of self-storage by businesses has increased as well. Small and medium businesses use storage to store stock, while large businesses tend to use it for logistics.
The company's revenue increased by 6.6 percent from £89.2 million ($116.7 million) to £95.1 million ($124.3 million). After tax, Safestore's profit was £13 million ($17 million). The average self-storage rental rate raised 2.2 percent to £26.11 ($34.1) per square foot. In addition to profit increase, Safestore opened two new stores in Paris and two replacement stores in the United Kingdom.

Safestore operates about 118 self-storage facilities, 23 of which are in Paris. With nearly 41,000 customers, the company employs approximately 500 people. Excluding the 12 Space Maker facilities under its management, Safestore boasts 5.2 million rentable square feet of storage, including 10 expansion pipeline stores.

Centreforce Technology of Strathpine, Queensland, Australia, a provider of management software for self-storage businesses, has developed an iOS mobile application that runs on Apple platforms such as iPhones and iPads. The app will allow users to access common functions of AccessEzy, a self-storage access-control and security product, including opening and closing gates, viewing the event log, running reports and checking alarms.

Self-storage owners and managers are now able to remotely control and view their facilities via this new application, said Dallas Dogger, managing director. No longer do owners and staff have to come in on weekends to open a gate for customer. They can use the new app on their iPhone and let them in. Its not just a Web interface but a real application. 

Centreforce engineers developed the new iOS application in house as a follow-up to the RapidStor online move-in technology, which is now responsible for more than 500 move-ins and reservations across the self-storage industry.

AccessEzy is a fully digital and Web-enabled software package used to control access and provide alarm security to self-storage sites worldwide. The software is installed in more than 200 self-storage sites across Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Operators will be able to view the new app in action at the upcoming Inside Self-Storage World Expo, March 14-16, in Las Vegas. More information on expo vendors is available at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.

SecureCare Self Storage Inc. recently renegotiated its cell-tower lease agreement with Verizon Communications Inc., the largest wireless telecom provider in North America. As a result, the company will recover unpaid cell-tower rent dating back to 2006. SecureCare leases space to Verizon for the occupancy and use of cell-tower facilities at its Wilmington, N.C., property.

The company hired Vertical Consultants last year to review and provide counsel regarding its cell-tower and roof-top leases associated with its properties. Vertical Consultants helps  companies maximize the value of its clients telecom-lease assets. After reviewing the Verizon lease and the tower site, Vertical Consultants discovered Verizons undeclared and unauthorized use of additional space at the property. 

We were not only able to reach an agreement with Verizon that led to a recovery of unpaid rent, but also renegotiated the existing lease, said Hugh Odom, president of Vertical Consultants.

For the last four decades, the telecom companies continued to rely upon the lack of information a property owner has access to when it enters into a cell-tower lease, or any other type of telecom lease, Odom added. Our mission is to level the playing field and make sure property owners at all levels get true and accurate value for the use of their property.

Vertical Consultant helps property owners become aware of cell-tower options and opportunities, which most are not aware of and can date back several years in existing leases. Our primary mission is to change the way things are done in the wireless industry, Odom said.

Founded in 2010 by Odom, Vertical Consultants is comprised of a group of wireless industry veterans with more than 40 years of combined experience. The company specializes in all aspects of the wireless-telecom industry, including telecom-site acquisition and development, lease negotiation, and the legal issues surrounding such transactions.

Founded in 1988, SecurCare Self Storage Inc. is a privately-owned company based in Lone Tree, Colo. The company has 135 facilities in 11 states.

Takhzeen, a new $17 million (about 6.4 million Bahraini dinars) self-storage facility in Manama, Bahrain, has opened. Al Khaleej Development Co., a subsidiary of Tameer, developed the property.

The facility is built over a land area of about 215,280 square feet (20,000 square meters). The property sits in the Bahrain Investment Wharf within the Salman Industrial City in Manama, which is the largest city and capital of Bahrain.

The facility provides about 193,750 square feet (18,000 square meters) of temperature-controlled storage space distributed over two buildings. The first building provides 800 storage units that vary in size from 27 square feet (2.5 square meters) to 323 square feet (30 square meters). The facility is designed to cater to individual and business storage demands, including appliances, furniture, cars, camping equipment and boats, to documents, files, records, and company transcripts. The second building provides larger storage units ranging from about 1,076 square feet (100 square meters) to about 2,153 square feet (200 square meters).

During the opening ceremony, Commerce Minister Hassan Fakhro confirmed the importance of development that supports other major industrial projects. He told the source self-storage provides options for many businesses that operate in the Salman Industrial City. He said Takhzeen will contribute to increasing industrial production efficiency.

Takhzeen Chairman Ahmed Al Qattan told the source the project is the first facility of its kind in the region in terms of size, scale, management approach and service capacity. He also told the source Takhzeen has plans to expand its operations by opening new facilities in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as well as Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Morocco.

Self-storage services provider Storage Network Advantage LLC (SNA) and SMD Software Inc., provider of SiteLink self-storage management software, have partnered to develop the SNA Collections Manager, a tool to help self-storage operators reduce bad debt and increase cash flow. The tool combines hardware and software technology to send phone and SMS text messages to past-due tenants.

Collections Manager can integrate with various Web-based management programs, including SiteLink. The integration sends tenant names, balances and phone numbers from the management software to the call system and posts real-time stamped notes in the software following each call.

Collections Manager makes automated collection calls and sends text messages from 8 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. daily. Self-storage customers can pay their bill immediately via phone to clear their past-due balance.

We tested the service for 13 months at our Westport Properties Inc. stores with impressive results, said Drew Hoeven, principle at SNA and Westport, which operates more than 40 self-storage facilities under the name US Storage Centers. All self-storage operators can instantly launch our technology to contact tenants outside of normal office hours at virtually no additional expense. SNAs collection system dramatically reduces bad debt at a fraction of the cost of traditional collection methods.

SNA and SMD have plans to expand the technology in the second quarter of the year to send non-collections messages such as marketing, thank-you, reservation notification or birthday wishes.

SNAs automated feature reduces the number of units going to auction without added payroll cost, said Markus Hecker, SiteLinks chief operating officer.

SNA will hold a free webinar about Collections Manager on Feb. 7. Event registration can be completed online at StorageNetworkAdvantage or by phone at 800.561.9912.

Hoeven launched SNA in September 2010 to leverage buying power for small and mid-size self-storage operations. The network comprises more than 800 members and 20-plus vendors. The company's services include Internet marketing, search-engine optimization, insurance, back-office administration, accounting, and volume discounts on merchandise and office supplies.

Hoeven is also a founding partner and president of WPI, which was launched in 1985. He has more than 30 years of real estate experience, with an emphasis on self-storage development.

SMD was established in 1996. With more than 5,000 installations worldwide, SiteLink Web Edition integrates with platforms such as smartphones, websites, listing services, INSOMNIAC self-storage kiosks, Lead Tracking Solutions and central mail providers. Features include revenue management and integrated customer-relationship management.

By RK Kliebenstein

Everybody likes sausage, but no one wants to see how its made. The same goes for self-storage marketing. Everybody wants new rentals, but few want to do the work necessary to get there ... And for good reason: Its tough!

In 2012, what will you commit to increase your rentals? How will you target the next wave of consumers in the pick it and click it world? If youre smart, youll allocate time and dollars to building and optimizing a mobile-friendly website.

The Rise of Smartphones

Theres no denying 2011 was a banner year for smartphones. Here are some interesting facts from Larry Hanks, principle of The Storage Group, a website-development company that helps self-storage operators optimize their websites for mobile devices:

• Smartphone sales to end users reached 115 million units in the third quarter of 2011, up 42 percent from the third quarter of 2010.
• Sequentially, smartphone sales slowed to 7 percent growth from the second quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2011.
• Smartphone sales also accounted for 26 percent of all mobile-phone sales, growing only marginally from 25 percent in the previous quarter.

Heres another statistic: There are more than 350 million active users (44 percent) currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. This group is twice as active on Facebook as non-mobile users, according to official statistics released in November from Facebook.

In addition, there are 5.3 billion mobile subscribers (that's 77 percent of the world population). Growth is led by China and India. Many mobile Web users are mobile-only, meaning they do not or rarely use a desktop, laptop or tablet to access the Web. Even in the United States, 25 percent of mobile Web users are mobile-only.

Optimizing Your Website for Mobile

Now that you know the mobile-phone market is for real, what are you doing about it? Traditional websites with graphics and embedded text do not display well on smartphones. The smartphone user wants the information fast and simple, and wants to be able to transact just as though he was sitting in front of a desktop. In general, self-storage operators have been slow to offer their inventory on the static website, let alone on a mobile site.

Its clear consumers are increasingly making smartphones and tablet devices a part of their lives, Hanks says. With more mobile devices being used every day, right when consumers are making their purchase decisions, its critical to have a smartphone-optimized website to promote your business. We see with our current clients, on average 15 percent of visitors to their websites do so through mobile technology, and this figure is trending higher very quickly, as much as 25 percent in some cases.

The first step to creating a mobile-optimized website is to tie up a .mobi domain. Get a scaled down version of your site created for mobile viewing with rent and reserve online capabilities. Make sure you have a phone number tied to a call center or someone who answers the phone during extended hours so they can take a paid reservation over the phone should the Web surfer turn into a caller, which is very common. The goal is to get consumers off the market, meet their needs and solve their problems. Make them customers, not shoppers.

Next is to make sure the site is found through search-engine optimization (SEO) and the conversion to the mobile site is seamless. If potential renters visit your traditional website from their mobile phones, the site should recognize the phone and automatically deliver the mobile site.

Since the launch of our mobile site, our owners have seen increased Web traffic and rentals at the store level, says Brian Blankenship Sr., vice president of operations for Metro Storage LLC, which operates more than 100 self-storage facilities around the country. Not only has the increase in unique visitors been impressive but, unexpectedly, the traffic to our traditional sites increased with very favorable Web analytics, all equating to new rentals, directly attributable to our Web efforts.

Making the Change

If youre going to be fully engaged in the prospecting business, its going to consume resourcesemotional, financial and kinetic. It may mean you have to look at the storage business much differently than ever before. For many, its going to be just too much work. Some will go back to the way theyve always done things and expect different results. Some will wait for the market to save themgood luck with that strategy. Others will see that third-party management will be the answer. It takes a lot of resources to develop the platforms that drive prospecting initiatives, then all of that has to transcend to near perfection at the front counter.

It will take committing to new strategies, reworking old ones and trying new initiatives. It means finding the right Web designer to optimize, index and properly anchor text, metatag and keyword your mobile and static site. All of that and you still have to avoid the sandbox (an SEO term for the period of time its believed Google sidelines new sites).

Just the thought of constantly reworking the SEO strategy and monitoring and launching pay-per-click campaigns to move your site up the ladder is exhausting. But it will be well worth the effort. Youll create a better branded business and gain bigger market share, both of which will result in higher occupancy levels and increased revenue.

RK Kliebenstein is the vice president of business development for Metro Storage, which owns and operates more than 100 self-storage facilities across the country. He has more than 25 years of self-storage industry experience including development, design, management and operations. To reach him, e-mail [email protected] .

By Hayden Harrison

During the recession, self-storage new construction slowed, and some jobs even halted. The slowdown led many self-storage developers to re-evaluate their staffing commitments, and some companies were forced to make reductions.

This year, the overall construction industry may face fewer layoffs and company improvements on are on the horizon, according to a recent survey by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America and Computer Guidance Corp. In fact, 32 percent of construction firms plan to hire this year, and half will add six or more employees. "While there are some promising signs, especially when it comes to construction employment, the outlook for the industry is mixed," said AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr. "More than four years after the demand for commercial construction began to plummet, economic conditions remain difficult."

In the self-storage industry, new construction remains slow, said Caesar Wright, president of Mako Steel Inc., a Carlsbad, Calif.-based self-storage developer and consulting firm. "That is concerning," he said. We're hopeful lending will loosen up in 2012 to allow some of what we think are good projects to move forward.

Even with firms planning to hire, the AGC survey also reported 9 percent will have still layoffs this year. This percentage decreased from 37 percent over last year.

Jamie Lindau, national sales manager for self-storage developer Trachte Building Systems, expects to see hiring in the self-storage construction industry increase in most areas because many companies have already endured the pain of eliminating staff. "We are very busy working with clients who are planning on building in 2012, Lindau said. Some of these clients are from states that have shown almost no new development for years, but finally their markets have been picking up and the demand for new units is there."

In addition to beginning new projects, the construction industry is making improvements to being more efficient and spending less. One way companies are doing this is by investing in new technology. "Contractors are looking for software and technology that increases the efficiency of existing staff and allows firms to do more with fewer people," said Roger Kirk, president and CEO for Computer Guidance, which produces management software for the construction industry.

Individual workers will no longer be responsible for only their department, and every worker will be expected to work in multiple departments. "This is how [businesses] increase efficiencieswith all this new technology," Lindau said.

According to the survey, 31 percent of businesses are currently using Building Information Modeling services (BIM) as a way to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Another 47 percent of businesses expect the use of BIM to increase this year.

Construction companies are also being "cautious with their plans for acquiring new construction equipment," said Ken Simonson, AGCs chief economist. Some firms will purchase new equipment; however, 66 percent will lease, according to the survey.

"Many will try to buy equipment if they can," Lindau said. "The long-term cost is lower than if they lease. The interest rates are still low, so if they have the credit it makes more sense to purchase capital equipment."

With the impact the recession has made on construction slowly declining, the industry's expectations to revive it may be set too high. "There are definitely some conflicting trends when it comes to contractors' expectations for 2012," Simonson said. "The construction industry will improve this year, but we are going to have to wait until at least 2013 before contractors experience the kind of recovery this industry needs."

Wright remains optimistic about new self-storage development in 2012. We definitely sense this year will outperform 2011, he says. Our quote activity has picked up and we do see a few projects that were tabled coming back to life. We'll continue to work hard in building successful projects for our clients.

This week the skeletal remains of a woman who died in 1995 were discovered this week in a unit at U-Stor Self Storage in Clearwater, Fla.

When District Manager Kevin McKeon phoned unit B8's tenant, delinquent since Dec. 1 but faithfully paying for many previous years, he was told a woman's remains were inside the unit. He was suspicious of the claim, thinking it was a prank, until staff opened the unit and saw a blue casket. They then notified police.

The current tenant is the deceased woman's granddaughter, who inherited the unit upon the death of her own mother last year. The tenant told the manager she was unaware of her grandmother's remains being stored in the unit until last year when her mother was on her deathbed. Police could not account for the mother's remains at the time of the original report.

Though the unit is not air-conditioned, police told the source the remains appeared to have been "properly processed" for burial, and there isn't a clear reason why she wasn't buried. Police also don't think the grandmother died under suspicious circumstances, but improper disposal of a body is a crime. No charges had been filed at the time of the report.

Police said the grandmother's remains will be taken to A Life Tribute, which provides indigent burials from chapels in nearby Largo and Gulfport.

U-Stor and affiliated brand Car-Go Self Storage have 12 facilities in Florida and 88 facilities across 12 states.