The former manager of Mount Zion Self-Storage in Mount Zion, Ill., was arrested in February under suspicion of stealing $117,000 from the business during a five-year period. The embezzlement estimate has since ballooned to as much as $1 million because investigators believe suspect Tamme R. King took cash payments for storage units as well as rental properties, and deposited the money into her bank account.

There are several ways self-storage owners can protect their operations against employee theft, from understanding what drives workplace crime to conducting audits, examining reports and other strategies. Let us know how your business watches money flow and control in this new Inside Self-Storage poll.

VaultDrop LLC, whose platform enables self-storage operators to offer unlimited cloud storage to tenants, has expanded service to Canada. The company’s Total Storage solution provides customers with secure, digital storage in addition to their physical unit space. Renters can use the service to store documents, music, photos and other files, as well as share content with others, according to a press release.

VaultDrop entered the Canadian market through a deal with The Real Storage Group (RSG), which is offering cloud storage at all 34 of its Real Storage and Store-N-Save locations, the release stated.

“We provide self-storage providers like The Real Storage Group with a distinct competitive advantage,” said Matt Pilling, sales manager for VaultDrop. “Offering free, unlimited cloud storage can improve occupancy rates by increasing interactions between customers and front-line personnel, as well as inspire appreciation and confidence among consumers in their rental decision.”

“Our vision is to be recognized as one of our industry’s most progressive self-storage service providers and to set new standards with our creativity, innovation and development,” added David Demchuk, managing partner of operations for RSG. “Our facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art security features to ensure that our customers’ stored belongings are safe and secure. Providing our customers cutting-edge services like cloud storage ensures the safety and security of their digital treasures and further supports our continuing quest to meet the ever-changing needs of our evolving customers.”

RSG operates self-storage facilities in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, Canada.

Among VaultDrop’s U.S. partners is Right Move Storage LLC, which began offering the cloud-storage service more than a year ago. VaultDrop and Inside Self-Storage published a case study last May, which includes details on how Right Move increased occupancy levels and property values with the ancillary offering.

Launched in 2016, VaultDrop offers secure, unlimited cloud storage. Accounts are encrypted with contents divided and stored across multiple independently operated servers.

Source:
EIN News Desk, VaultDrop Introduces Unlimited Cloud Storage to Canadian Self-Storage Market

Marketing your self-storage facility is the most important thing you can do to increase occupancy. Prospective tenants will consider several factors when choosing a site, including location, pricing and amenities. While these are important, security is a highly sought-after feature. Customers who are security-conscious are often willing to overlook higher rates if a property offers more of it than others. However, if people don’t know what you offer, you’re limiting your ability to attract them. So, how do you promote your security advantages?

What Makes Your Facility Different?

To develop an effective, security-oriented marketing plan, the first thing you need to do is research your competition. What security features are they advertising on their websites? If you drive by, which are visible from the street? Survey at least three properties in your area, and then make the same review of your own facility. Maybe even ask a friend or family member to do a comparison for you. Because you’re accustomed to seeing your site, you may overlook things the average person would notice.

Getting a general sense of the competition’s security can give an idea of how your facility can improve or what features to focus on in your marketing materials to set your site apart. Consider the following elements and how you can use them to drive new rentals.

Resident Manager

Having an onsite manager ensures there’s always someone on the property. While he should never be asked to take payments at 11 p.m., he’s there to be vigilant and bolster security. Noises, barking dogs or triggered motion-sensor lights can be easily detected and quickly assessed by a resident employee.

Using terms like “onsite manager” or “resident manager” in advertisements and marketing campaigns can draw attention to the fact that there’s someone on the property 24/7. It’ll offer peace of mind to tenants and discourage would-be criminals from targeting your site.

Lighting

Facilities that are well-lit can make tenants and prospective customers feel safe when visiting the site at night. In some areas, city codes even require that lighting be tied to motion sensors. Use this as a selling point.

For example, lighting plays a key role in marketing vehicle-parking spaces at Agua Dulce Storage in Agua Dulce, Calif. “Our 27-acre RV and parking facility is home to over 700 tenants, with 24/7 access,” says property manager Steve Weinstein. “Early morning and evening are the busiest for us as people get ready to leave on vacation or return late from a job. All of our lighting is on sensors. The benefit of that is two-fold: The tenant can easily and safely navigate the facility, and our video cameras get a better image of exactly what’s happening on site.”

Access Control

Most self-storage facilities use self-storage management software combined with access-control keypads and gates to restrict facility entry. Whether customers use the keypad, a proximity card or an app to open the gate, they can quickly see that potential thieves can’t easily enter the property. These tools immediately provide a sense of security.

If your access control has unique features, draw attention to them. When describing your security amenities, use terms such as “electronic gate access,” “fenced and lit,” “app-based and keypad access” or “individual key codes for entry.”

Cameras

Video cameras are a great security feature. They deter theft and vandalism, and tenants will feel safer knowing their stuff is under surveillance. If your cameras are easy to see, reference your “video-surveillance system” in your marketing.

Some facilities showcase their camera feeds on large monitors in their office. This creates a quick, easy visual impact for customers and shows them you take security seriously. For example, Armor Storage in Pueblo West, Colo., displays five large monitors behind its front desk. Four display footage from the video cameras while the fifth features 3D site graphics of the facility, including alarm status for individual units.

Alarms and Electronic Locks

Some facilities use individual door alarms or electronic door locks. Not only are they a great selling tool, they often help a self-storage operator command higher rents. If you have a limited budget, consider adding them one building at a time. Whatever you do, mention them in your sales presentations, website, marketing materials, etc. They can be yet another competitive advantage.

Marketing Impact

Highlighting your security amenities makes it easier for customers to choose you over the competition. It’s often what they crave. For example, security is one of the things tenants of Armor Storage often compliment and mention on social media. The company has a five-star Google rating with nearly 100 reviews, with security often mentioned as a feature reviewers care about.

Even if your facility doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, focus your marketing on what you do offer. Security is constantly evolving, but prospective tenants need storage now, so show them what you have.

April Lee is a business-development consultant at QuikStor Security & Software, which provides management software, access control, wireless door alarms, websites and search engine optimization to the self-storage industry. She has a background in accounting, Web design and digital marketing, and formerly managed a large RV-storage facility. For more information, call 800.321.1987; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.quikstor.com. 

Development firm NorthBridge Investments has broken ground on a new self-storage facility in Argyle, Texas. Yellow Door Storage at 812 Crawford Road is scheduled to open early next year.

Located next to the new Wise Health Emergency Center & Urgent Care, the facility will contain 890 units. It’ll comprise a three-story, 77,000-square-foot building at the front of the property, with eight single-story, drive-up structures behind it, according to the source.

NorthBridge considered several sites for the storage facility but ultimately chose the location due to its proximity to several large housing developments and Interstate 35 W. “We look forward to bringing a first-class storage facility to a market we feel is currently underserved,” said Bret Andrus, managing partner. “We are excited to be a part of the community and to serve the storage demands of a growing population.”

Based in Denton, Texas, NorthBridge focuses on industrial, office and self-storage development. It also operates Northbridge Management & Consulting, a real estate service provider and management firm serving North Texas.

Source:
The Cross Timbers Gazette, Storage Facility Breaks Ground Near Argyle

Apple Self Storage, which operates 31 locations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario, Canada, is offering four weeks of free storage to people who’ve been affected by the flooding in South New Brunswick. Those who wish to take advantage of the offer can do so at one of five Apple locations: 

• 20 Acorn St., Fredericton
• 546 St. Mary’s St., Fredericton
• 70 Thorne Ave., Saint John
• 101 Woodward Ave., Saint John
• 991 Fairville Blvd., Saint John

New Brunswick is in its second week of flooding following heavy rainfall and rising water levels from the Saint John River. The unprecedented rising destroyed homes and displaced more than 1,100 residents, according to several news sources.

“We recognize the importance of helping community during times of natural disaster. Apple Self Storage is committed to all the communities in which we operate, and we will help families impacted by the flooding as best we can,” said David Allan, vice president of development.

Family-owned and -operated, Apple opened its first facility in 1974. Its properties comprise more than 1.2 million square feet of rentable space. The company offers standard and premium storage units, mailbox rental, package acceptance, hold-key service, and packing and moving supplies.

Source:
PR Web, Apple Self Storage Offers 4 Weeks Free Self-Storage To Flood Victims in Southern New Brunswick

Charity Storage, a nonprofit organization that helps self-storage operators raise funds for more than 220 local, national and international charities, has named Robert A. Chiti as its new chairman of the board. Chiti, who is president of self-storage technology provider OpenTech Alliance Inc., took over the role last month from Lance Watkins, who co-founded the nonprofit with the late Barry Hoeven, according to a press release.

Charity Storage has established a national network of participating storage facilities to serve as collection points for goods donated by tenants as well as the general public. The goods are stored and later sold during the facilities’ public auctions.

Watkins will remain on the board of directors. “We are deeply grateful to Lance Watkins for his inspiring leadership as founder and chairman,” Charity Storage officials said in the release. “He has been instrumental in Charity Storage's continuing success and remains dedicated to our mission of giving back to the communities we serve.”

Chiti and Watkins also serve together on the board of directors for StorageTreasures.com, a storage-auction website. Over the past year, OpenTech and StorageTreasures devoted “significant funds, time and resources to strengthen the existing Charity Storage technical and administrative processes,” the release stated. The companies have also provided the nonprofit with legal, tax and technical assistance.

Chiti is also board chair for the California Self Storage Association. He was a board member of the national Self Storage Association (SSA) from 2014 to 2016.

OpenTech is a Phoenix-based provider of self-storage kiosks, call-center services and other technology. It provides several models of INSOMNIAC self-serve kiosks as well as a range of self-storage rental solutions.

Among the organizations that benefit from Charity Storage efforts are Kure-It Cancer Research, which was founded by Hoeven to fund research of kidney cancer and other underfunded malignancies, and the SSA Foundation, which provides scholarships to industry professionals.

Hoeven was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1998. In 2007, he partnered with cancer center City of Hope to create the Kure It! Kidney Cancer Research Fund, which raised more than $400,000. Kure It Inc. was established in January 2010 to grant funds to cancer researchers investigating progressive treatments and cures. Hoeven also founded Westport Properties Inc. in 1985. The company operates more than 100 facilities in 13 states under the US Storage Centers brand.

A proposal to build self-storage in Foxboro, Ontario, Canada, was shot down Monday by the planning committee after residents opposed it. The developers sought rezoning for a parcel on Ashley Street with the intent to build 120 units. The plan included a buffer zone between the facility and residential area, according to the source.

Several residents attended the committee meeting, and nine spoke against the rezoning. Their concerns included a possible increase in traffic, safety issues and water-drainage problems stemming from the site.

Mayor Taso Christopher and councilor Paul Carr also spoke against the request. Carr called the area “rural” and suggested self-storage be restricted to industrial zones. “It just isn’t the right development for the hamlet of Foxboro,” Christopher added.

The committee voted against recommending the council rezone the land.

Source:
Quinte News, Saying No to Storage Unit Development

 

Hialeah Storage Builders LLC has purchased a 2-acre parcel in Hialeah Gardens, Fla., for $2.3 million on which it plans to build a self-storage facility. The property is north of Northwest 107th Street, west of Northwest 89th Avenue, near several industrial parks, according to the source. The company received a $12.4 million construction loan from Jernigan Capital, a merchant bank and advisory firm serving the self-storage industry.

The sellers were real estate investors Raudel and Renaldo Mesa, who purchased the site in 1998 for $163,500.

Hialeah Storage is led by Richard Beavers, who owns Beaver Realty LLC. He’s also president of an offshoot company, Self Storage Associates, which received a $14.7 million loan from Jernigan last fall to build a CubeSmart facility near the Little Gables neighborhood of Miami.

Source:
The Real Deal, Self-Storage Developer Buys Land in Hialeah Gardens, Scores Construction Financing