Brentwood Self-Storage and Mallory Station Storage in Brentwood, Tenn., recently participated in the Under Wraps 2010 Blanket Collection, a drive set up by brothers Nate, Ian and Mason Kukowski to collect blankets for disaster victims. The collection has gathered more than 700 blankets this year.

Blankets were donated to Graceworks Ministries, a nonprofit in Williamson County, Tenn., just before the state’s flooding in early May, and also to earthquake victims in Haiti.

The brothers initiated the blanket drive in 2008 following tornadoes strikes in west Williamson County. During the first year, 125 blankets were distributed.

Source:  Tennessean.com,  Brothers' Blanket Drive Is Timely in Brentwood

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Blue Mound Self Storage of Fort Worth, Texas, has reallocated the hundreds of dollars per month it used to spend on ads in local phone directories to Web-based advertising. The facility also upgraded its website, adding a new logo and a more eye-catching color palette in addition to other features.
 
"We go where our customers are," said facility owner Ron Sturgeon. "Right now most of them aren't using phone books. Most start their shopping for climate-controlled self-storage at a search engine like Google or Bing, so we want to make sure they find us when they type in phrases like ‘boat storage in Fort Worth’ or ‘car storage Saginaw TX.’”

Josh Davis, the local Web developer who redesigned the Blue Mount website, said visitors judge a site in less than six seconds, and good first impressions are created by graphic elements. He added features to make it easier for customers to find the website and get information about the business. The company’s new online strategy includes an e-newsletter as well as a Facebook page.
 
"Traffic to the website and calls have doubled since the new site went live in early May," Davis said. "The site was built using WordPress popular blogging software, so it's very easy for Blue Mound to launch new promotions and tell people about them on the site.”

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Mobile-storage provider Zippy Shell USA LLC has joined the network of service providers associated with Long & Foster Home Service Connections. The partnership will entitle Long & Foster customers to an exclusive discount on Zippy Shell unit rentals.
 
Zippy Shell units are protected by an advanced security system that includes an audible alarm, locking brakes and GPS tracking. As licensed vehicles, the units can even be parked in the street.
 
Based in Chantilly, Va., Long & Foster Home Service Connections is associated with service providers and product offerings ranging from movers, painters, roofers and contractors to discount pricing on appliances, electronics and security systems. As part of Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., Home Service Connections works with sales associates and clients throughout the mid-Atlantic region to verify insurance, check past references, and verify licensing for all of its vendors.

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Papermill Self Storage, a 55,067-square foot self-storage facility in Knoxville, Tenn., sold for just over $2 million. Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, a nationwide firm specializing in commercial real estate investment services, brokered the sale.

Michael A. Mele, vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa, Fla., office, along with Anne Williams, investment specialist in the firm’s Memphis, Tenn., office, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the Texas-based seller, a bank/financial institution. The buyer, a limited-liability company in Mississippi, was also represented by Mele and Williams. 

“This sale is one of the first of what will be a wave of real estate owned sales in self-storage,” Mele said. “We will see many more deals like this one over the next two years, as financial institutions look to clear their inventory of self-storage properties.”

Papermill Self Storage is located at 3980 Papermill Road.  The facility was built in 2004, expanded in 2007 and maintains 70 percent physical occupancy. 

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Self-storage facilities are often perceived by their local communities as necessities, not assets, as hide-away places where people only go when they have a storage need. But that perception can be changed by self-storage operators embracing the green movement.

Storage businesses can improve their public image by taking simple steps that will position them as champions of Mother Earth. In so doing, they’ll bring in more sales while garnering great public relations.
 
How Do You ‘Go Green’?
“Going green” involves being conscious of the environmental impact of your actions―your business and personal practices, the products you use, etc.—and tailoring them to be Earth-friendly. It takes effort and often involves some up-front cost, but it’s worthwhile in the long term. The end result for self-storage operators is that by working to help clean up the environment, they earn positive recognition and generate community awareness.

There are many ways self-storage operators can go green. Here are a few ideas to get you started.  

• Use green energy. Put timers on lights and use energy-efficient light blubs. You can also install solar panels, a “cool” metal roof (one using Polyvinylidene Fluoride paint) or even an energy-generating windmill, and then sell excess energy back to the city.
• Use green products. Buy paints and siding that contain no volatile organic compounds. Use eco-friendly cleaning and insect-control products. (Orange oil is great for termites.)
• Sell green products. Selling recycled boxes and packing is popular. Also consider selling storage products made from recycled plastic, corn, recycled tires, etc., and other unique materials.
• Promote green websites and information. Provide green tips through your facility website. Link to the websites of green products and businesses or local green organizations.
• Offer recycling bins. Many facilities do not offer any kind of recycling, but they should. You might even be able to make money on your customers’ throwaways. Just make sure you keep your recycle bins clean.
• Become an e-waste drop-off site. Collecting e-waste—drained batteries, empty ink cartridges, old cell phones, old computer equipment—is a convenience for existing customers and can attract new people to your facility. It’s as easy as providing a recycle bin and appropriate signage.
• Sponsor e-waste collection days. Promote the event on your website, post fliers and tell customers. After the collection event, ask a certified recycler to pick up the materials, or drop them off at a certified recycle facility.

Going green can help self-storage facilities bring in client traffic and added revenue. With ingenuity and facility upgrades, operators can save money and create energy. Plus, expansion of green products sold to the public—in the storefront and online—helps operators become active members of their communities and be recognized as a vital business committed to cleaning up the neighborhood and saving the planet.
 
Barry Keyes is CEO of California-based GREENspot DROPoff Inc., a network of e-waste collectors throughout California. Through partnerships with self-storage facilities and other DROPoff locations, the company provides free and convenient e-waste recycling to the public.  The company also educates the public about the harms of e-waste, and gives back money to local schools and charities for every eligible piece of e-waste collected at one of the company’s locations. For information, call 800.350.3550; visit www.greenspotdropoff.org.

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Self-storage business owners can learn strategies for improving income throughout the year during a free webinar on June 23 titled, "Finding Hidden Money in Your Store’s Operating Reports.”

Presented by M. Anne Ballard, president and founder of Universal Management Co., the session will teach attendees techniques for using a facility’s operating reports to unlock additional income. They’ll learn the benefits of balancing and making daily deposits, how to write successful rate-increase letters, management methods for achieving monthly income goals and more.
 
The online seminar will take place at 2 p.m. ET. Registration can be completed at Ministoragemessenger.com.  
 
Ballard is a frequent speaker at selfstorage events such as the Inside Self-Storage World Expo and is a regular contributor to industry publications such as Inside Self-Storage magazine. She recently published a book titled, The Hat Lady Speaks: Marketing Self-Storage.

Ballard founded Universal more than 15 years ago. The company specializes in full-service management, design, marketing, development services, feasibility studies, global consulting and training for self-storage facilities.

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A self-storage owner who’s converting a former Coca-Cola bottling building in Pennsylvania into self-storage was recently honored with a 2010 Historic Preservation Award from Historic York Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historic architecture in York County, Pa.

The awards are given for projects completed in the past year, using the Secretary of Interior's standards for rehabilitation of historic properties, said Historic York executive director Alycia Reiten.

Capital Self Storage owner Ken Snyder, along with SAArchitects and Henderson Construction, decided to buy and renovate the Coca-Cola Bottling Works building two years ago for $2 million. The conversion will cost an additional million.

Expansion plans for the Springettsbury Township, Pa., building include tearing down the old maintenance garage at the rear of the property and building five new buildings. Metal siding was also removed to reveal a brick façade in good condition. Once the expansion is complete, the site will have approximately 350 new interior storage units and 38,000 square feet of additional space, according to Snyder.

Capital Self Storage has several locations in south central Pennsylvania. The company’s first conversion project was a farm in the 1980s.

Coca-Cola closed the building in 2006 after more than 60 years of operation.

Source:  York Daily Record,  Historic York Announces 2010 Historic Preservation Award Recipients

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The U-Haul Company of Western Florida has expanded its network of self-storage locations with its purchase of North Port Self Storage in North Port, Fla. The self-storage facility has 517 storage units in nine single-story storage buildings with more than 44,400 square feet of storage.

With the recent addition of North Port Self Storage, the U-Haul Company of Western Florida now has eight company-owned facilities, seven of which offer self-storage, and more than 40 U-Haul dealers that also offer self-storage throughout Western Florida communities.

"We are pleased to be expanding our presence in North Port, and look forward to continuing our long-standing relationships with local communities throughout Florida," said Dave Thompson, president, U-Haul Company of Western Florida.

The facility will sell a variety of environmentally friendly packing supplies including boxes made out of recyclable materials, 100 percent biodegradable packing peanuts and moving pads made from recycled denim.

Also on site will be a Take a Box/Leave a Box display, which allows customers or anyone in the community to leave moving boxes or unwanted electronics boxes for another customer to reuse for free, instead of throwing them away or recycling them. The facility will soon have available propane tanks that provide alternative fuel for vehicles and barbecue grills.

Since 1989, AMERCO Real Estate Co., an affiliate of U-Haul International Inc., has been responsible for providing real estate services to AMERCO subsidiaries that include more than 1,350 U-Haul moving and storage centers throughout the United States and Canada.

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StorageVault Canada has signed a term sheet with Conundrum Capital Corp. and Canstore Self Storage LP, a fund managed by Conundrum, to create a PUPS (portable units portable storage) business in conjunction with Canstore’s self-storage facilities in Kanata and North Peterborough, Ontario.  
 
Canstore will fund all infrastructure and capital expenditures related to the establishment of PUPS at the sites. StorageVault will purchase a 15 percent interest in the properties through a limited partnership with Canstore and retain a 15 percent carried equity interest in PUPS at both locations. StorageVault will also receive a franchise royalty of 3.5 percent of the PUPS gross revenue.
 
StorageVault will have an option to purchase the facilities on or before Dec. 31, 2013, and a right of first refusal to purchase the sites until Dec. 31, 2014.  The term sheet outlines arrangements under which StorageVault will manage the properties together with four additional Canstore properties in Ontario in return for a management fee equal to 5 percent of gross revenue from each site.
 
The key terms outlined in the agreement are not comprehensive and are conditional on several factors.
 
StorageVault is also terminating an agreement with Conundrum at AMJ Self Storage in Kanata as previously announced in a press release dated May 28, 2009. The proof of concept attained the required benchmarks to be deemed a success, however, the companies were unable to negotiate a mutually beneficial financing and funding arrangement as originally contemplated.
 
StorageVault continues to manage the facility and the PUPS operations in Kanata on a month-to-month basis. In the event the parties are unable to finalize the above-mentioned agreements, StorageVault will reacquire the PUPS assets in Kanata under the terms and conditions as described in the original press release.

StorageVault owns and operates Canadian PUPS portable storage in Saskatoon, Trans Can Mini-Stor in Regina, and Kenaston Self Storage in Winnipeg. The company intends to grow through the acquisition of self-storage properties and the development of portable-storage facilities in Canada. Its common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.

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