Donna L. Cousins, who co-owns Pennsylvania-based Cousins Self Storage with her husband, Chris, is running for auditor in White Township, Pa. The Republican will face incumbent Democrat Margaret Eyer on the November ballot, according to the source. White Township has three elected auditors.

The Cousins own two self-storage locations in Indiana and Ford City, Pa. The couple also previously owned a restaurant.

In addition to being an entrepreneur with her husband, Donna spent 29 years with the Farm Service Agency inside the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She began as a county loan clerk and moved up to a farm loan officer. She worked out of the Indiana County, Pa., office, which served a six-country area, the source reported.

Cousins also served as president of the COA/COC Association and has been a member of other local committees. She’s been a resident of White Township for 16 years.

Cousins Self Storage sites feature 24-hour accessibility, security cameras and vehicle storage. Chris and Donna manage the Indiana facility, while they’re son Chris Jr. and his wife, Melissa, operate the Ford City property. Together, the two locations offer 286 units. The Cousins have been self-storage owners for more than 15 years, according to the company website.

Sources:
The Indiana Gazette, Campaign 2019: Cousins Seeks Auditor Position
Cousins Self Storage, Website

Little Orchard Self Storage in San Jose, Calif., is supporting a donation drive to help victims of the Kincade Fire that’s burning in Sonoma County, Calif. The facility at 1833 Little Orchard St. is providing a free unit to Gabriel Lopez, owner of Everything Goes Movers Moving Co., who’s spearheading the drive.

“He wanted to do something for the Kincade Fire and right when I heard that, I said, what do you need,” said property manager Melissa Volau.

Although located 90 miles from the fire, Lopez said being able to see and smell the smoke reminds him of the devastation happening in the North Bay community. “The fear and everything that they are going through, and the loss and wonder of what’s going to happen,” said Lopez, who volunteered during last year’s Camp Fire in Butte County, Calif.

He’s collected water bottles, toiletries and non-perishable food for the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa, Calif. He also plans to purchase food if need be, then deliver everything to the food bank today. “I want them to know we care about them, that we are here for them,” he said.

The Kincade Fire began on Oct. 23 and has already burned 76,825 acres. Two firefighters have been injured, 206 structures have been destroyed and another 40 have been damaged. The fire is about 30 percent contained, according to fire officials.

Little Orchard serves the communities of Campbell, Los Gatos, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Willow Glen.

Source:
KTVU, Donations for Kincade Fire Victims Pour Into San Jose
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, Kincade Fire

Writing isn’t easy. Even professional authors need strategies and tricks to help them through the process, from using a special pen to sitting in a distraction-free room.

If you’re looking to launch a self-storage business and attract investors, you first need a plan; but writing one can be tough. You want it to be enticing but accurate. Blandness and mistakes can be costly, each in their own way.

So, what do you do? Channel your inner Tom Clancy! As the author of more than 17 bestsellers, the man knew what he was about. He said, “Writing is beastly hard work, which one would just as soon not do. It’s also a job, however; and if you want to get paid, you have to work. Life is cruel that way.” Amen, Tom, amen. Now let’s get paid, my self-storage brothers and sisters. Hallelujah!

I’m going to assume you know how to use the Internet to figure out the essentials any business plan must contain. Now, I’m going to take a page from Tom’s playbook and share five tips that will help you polish it up to be “The Best Self-Storage Business Plan of All Time … With No Expensive Mistakes.”

Keep Your Audience in Mind

Who’s going to read your business plan? Is it potential investors with whom you need to make a positive impression quickly? Is it bankers, who are formal and more concerned with detailed financial analysis than a unique concept or impressive resume? What about potential partners who are wondering what their roles would be in the operation? Is it managers who need a clear, strategic vision and objectives?

Depending on the audiences your plan will serve, you may need to create multiple versions. The good news is the financial analysis will stay the same. The points you want to stress to each audience will vary.

Don’t Bury Assumptions in Facts

What’s the difference between fiction and reality? Tom says, “Fiction has to make sense.” The reason “The Hunt for Red October” is compelling is because it seems like it really happened. In a business plan, your fictional statements are called “assumptions,” and you need to make sure they’re clearly labeled as such.

State the assumptions your plan makes, and then support them with research and industry data. Don’t mislead the reader by portraying them as reality. Market demand, lease-up schedules and phasing projections are examples of reasonable assumptions every self-storage investor must make. You should capture all of these from your feasibility study.

Create Personas for Key Customer Segments

Your self-storage facility is going to serve human beings. Your feasibility study should provide information about them. Your business plan should talk about who they are, what they want and how to reach them.

Review the demographic (age, gender, salary, family, etc.) and psychographic (attitudes, lifestyles, values, etc.) data of the customers your facility will serve and create personas for the key segments of your target audience. Once you know their primary goals, challenges, values and fears, you can create a specific marketing message and strategy for each customer type.

This is the essential starting point for developing an exceptional facility. Not only is it the basis for your unit mix, personas are the stars of everything you envision. Follow Tom’s advice: “Don’t just write, tell a story.” And use your personas as the main characters.

Fill Knowledge Gaps With a Pro

No one is an expert in everything. Your business plan will have knowledge gaps. For example, perhaps you’re good at financial analysis but don’t know anything about marketing. That’s OK. Get help with that part from a professional.

Even if you consider yourself a “self-storage expert,” you may still need help from engineers, attorneys and accountants. Your “Best Business Plan of All Time” will need input from other experts, from a feasibility consultant to a property-management company, depending on your limitations.

Embrace Hard Work

Never use a “boilerplate” business plan. Self-storage isn’t a boilerplate business! Simply cutting and pasting is an easy way to set yourself up for failure. If you follow the advice Tom and I have given you above, your plan will be unique, and going through the process will lead you to explore the distinct advantages and challenges of your project. The more you research and learn, the better equipped you’ll be to customize and revise.

Before he created a spy-book phenomenon encompassing more than 100 million books sold, multiple movies and video games, Tom was a humble insurance agent. His relentless pursuit of excellence led to his tremendous success, and channeling his attitude can help lead you to your dream self-storage facility. As he said, “If you want to kick the tiger in his ass, you'd better have a plan for dealing with his teeth.” You heard the man. Now get to work!

Katherine D’Agostino is the founder of Self-Storage Ninjas, a feasibility-analysis firm delivering unbiased reports resulting in facilities with high occupancy and the highest possible returns. She offers a free, weekly newsletter that provides insider techniques, ready-to-use calculators, downloadable spreadsheets and data sources. For more information, visit www.selfstorageninjas.com.

Shurgard Self Storage Europe SARL, the European affiliate of U.S.-based real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc., has released financial results for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. In general, the company showed gains in key areas, particularly in operating revenue and net operating income (NOI), according to a press release.

Highlights include an operating-revenue growth at constant exchange rate (CER) of 5.4 percent for the quarter. Same-store revenue grew 2.8 percent using CER. The growth was attributed to rental rate increases. All stores’ NOI margin increased by just under 1 percentage point to 67.5 percent for the quarter, while same-store NOI margin grew .5 percent to 67.9 percent. Adjusted earnings on the European Public Real Estate Association Index were €29.1 million for the quarter.

Of the seven European markets in which Shurgard operates, the U.K. showed the largest same-store year-over-year revenue gain at 5.1 percent using CER. The Netherlands was second at 3.2 percent, followed by Sweden at 3.1 percent. Same-store locations in Denmark performed the weakest, with revenue falling 1 percent compared to the same period a year ago, while same-store revenue in Belgium was equal.

Shurgard operates 231 self-storage facilities comprising 1.2 million net rentable square meters in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Its network serves 150,000 customers and employs more than 700 people. Shurgard is listed on Euronext Brussels under the symbol “Shur.”

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,456 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 166 million net rentable square feet.

The Miami County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department is investigating a self-storage tenant on suspicion of animal cruelty after two dogs were discovered trapped inside a unit at Hillsdale Boat and Mini-Storage in Hillsdale, Kan. Investigators believe the dogs had been left intentionally inside the unit for a month with minimal care. The animals were in critical condition and transported to a local veterinarian, according to a source.

The dogs were discovered around 4 a.m. Saturday by another tenant who heard them barking and walked up and down the drive aisles with her kids until they figured out which unit contained the canines. The tenant, who asked a local news station not to identify her, called a friend who works at a pet rescue as well as the police.

Inside the unit, investigators found a chocolate Labrador and a Belgian Malinois in separate kennels. “They couldn’t stand. They were lay-down kennels,” the tenant witness said. “The bigger dog had a piece of paper it was eating until it could not reach it no more.”

One of the dogs was eating and drinking water, but the second was emaciated and in bad shape. "One of her eyes was matted, bubbled shut. She had open sores on her arm or her paw,” the witness said. “She tried to hold her head up, and it would just fall back down."

Charges are still pending in the case. The suspect is cooperating with investigators, officials said.

Sources:
KAKE, 2 Dogs Trapped in Kansas Storage Unit for a Month, Authorities Say
WDAF-TV, Two Dogs Found Trapped in Miami County Storage Unit for a Month, Officials Say

Chris Marr, president and CEO of publicly traded self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) CubeSmart, announced last week that he expects pressure from new supply to lessen next year. Marr made the declaration during an Oct. 25 call to discuss the REIT’s third-quarter earnings.

The company predicts new development in the top 12 markets in which it operates will drop to about 110 to 150 new developments next year, compared to the 300 to 360 planned for 2019. These markets represent about 70 percent of CubeSmart’s revenue, Marr said.

CubeSmart predicts the biggest decline in deliveries will be in Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Miami. Despite the slowdown, the REIT still expects revenue growth to be hampered by new supply.

“We’re just starting to see [the] rental rate climb back from its lows, and [that] gives us some optimism as we go into 2020 that those markets will continue to show improvement,” Marr said.

An August report from Yardi Systems Inc. stated the storage industry could be facing a “rocky road for the foreseeable future,” due to continually high levels of facility development nationwide. The company issued the caution through its Yardi Matrix self-storage data-services platform as part of its July “National Self Storage Report,” which examines the impact of self-storage supply across the United States.

CubeSmart owns or manages 1,165 self-storage facilities across the United States. Its operating portfolio comprises 78.8 million square feet.

Source:
SpareFoot, CubeSmart Expects Less New Supply Pressure in 2020

Strathroy Mini Storage Ltd. in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada, received the “Mainstreet Credit Union Small Business of the Year Award” from the Strathroy & District Chamber of Commerce. The award was presented to facility co-owner Sue Looman at an Oct. 24 gala at the Portuguese Canadian Club.

Strathroy Mini opened two years ago after Looman and her husband recognized a need for more storage in their community. As the owners of senior-living townhomes, they noticed many residents who were downsizing needed storage but the facilities in their area were full, Looman said in a YouTube video. 

The chamber’s annual “Business Excellence Awards” showcases and celebrates businesses in five categories. Nominees in the “Small Business” category must be chamber members with up to 15 employees. They’re expected to excel in “providing outstanding service to their customers on a consistent basis” and demonstrate a commitment to the community. They must also promote excellent management and employee relations through training and development. The chamber has recognized and celebrated community businesses and their achievements since 1998.

Strathroy Mini offers climate-controlled and drive-up storage, and outdoor vehicle storage.

Sources:
Strathroy Today, Strathroy Mini Storage Wins Small Business Chamber Award
YouTube, Strathroy Mini Storage

Westy Self Storage, which operates 15 facilities in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, will offer its Stamford, Conn., location to serve as the drop-off for a Peace Community Chapel coat drive for the second consecutive year. New and gently used men’s and women’s coats sizes medium and up may be dropped at 80 Brownhouse Road through Dec. 1, according to the source.

Collected coats will be donated to the Inspirica and Pacific House homeless shelters in Stamford and Beth-El Center shelter in Milford, Conn.

“Last year, because of generous donations, we were able to provide 385 coats to those in need. Again, with the help of the community and our friends at Westy, our goal this year is to meet or surpass that mark,” said Don Adams, pastor for Peace Community Chapel. “We are so grateful to Westy for hosting a coat drive for us and providing the storage space for the collected items.”

Founded in 1990 by The Arredondo Family, Westy Self Storage is headquartered in Stamford. It operates four facilities in Connecticut, four in New Jersey and seven in New York.

Source:
Greenwich Time, Greenwich Celebrates With Donations, Services and More

WestShore U-Lock Mini Storage of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, was named a winner in the “2019 Best of the WestShore Awards,” sponsored by the “Goldstream News Gazette” and the WestShore Chamber of Commerce. The operator won in the “Best Storage” category. Millstream Self Storage was the runner-up, while Adams Storage placed third. The winners and finalists were honored at a ceremony on Oct. 24 at the Olympic View Golf Club.

Voting took place on the “Goldstream News Gazette” website between July 8 and Sept. 2. Businesses nominated themselves by choosing one category of the 44 in which to appear. Community members could also add companies that weren’t listed across the categories. Additional categories included best pub, restaurant, grocery store, beach, second-hand shopping and more.

This year’s contest garnered more than 40,000 votes from the public, which was 10,000 more than the previous year. Additional sponsors included Camosun College, Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan, Coast Capital Savings, Coastal Community Bank, Elements Casino, Royal Roads University, “Signs of the Times,” Stover Professional Corp., Seriously Creative, University of Victoria and Westshore Dental Care.

WestShore U-Lock is part of U-Lock Mini Storage Group, which operates six locations in British Columbia.

Sources:
Victoria News, Best of the West Shore Awards Winners Announced
Goldstream News Gazette, Best of West Shore Wants to Hear From You