elcome to the November 2023 edition of Messenger, our annual Top Operator’s issue. Starting on page 24, we are proud to present the top 100 operators in the self-storage industry based on net rentable square footage. While this year’s list includes many industry veterans, surprisingly, it also includes 26 operators that did not appear in 2022. Likewise, there are several that have dropped off due to consolidation or sales and acquisitions. A few days after becoming the new No. 2, Public Storage announced its own stellar acquisition: the $2.2 billion purchase of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.’s 127-property Simply Self Storage portfolio. And while CubeSmart and National Storage Associates (NSA) have kept their 2022 positions (third and fifth, respectively), U-Haul has rocketed up two.

As for the 26 operators in this edition that were not listed in 2022, some of those operators have been ranked on previous Top Operators lists, including Rosewood Property Company (No. 26) and East Penn Self Storage (No. 78); in 2021 they were ranked 30^th and 80^th, respectively. Two high-ranking newcomers on the list are KO Storage (No. 23) and NexPoint Storage Partners (No. 28). There are also a few new remote management companies this year, such as StoreEase Virtual Management (No. 63) and Remote Management Solutions (No. 67). Copper Storage Management, which has climbed 10 spots, from 42^nd to 32^nd, offers remote management services as well.

In closing, as we approach the holiday season, may our lives be full of both thanks and giving. And remember: There is always something for which to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

hen self-storage professionals look back on 2023, they’ll likely recall one earth-shattering, industry-related event: It was the year Extra Space Storage and Life Storage joined forces to finally eclipse Public Storage as the largest self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT). The REITs announced their merger agreement just two months after Public Storage attempted to buy Life Storage through an acquisition strategy known as a bear hug.

The $12.7 billion, all-stock transaction was completed on July 20^th, doubling Extra Space’s portfolio overnight and forming the “preeminent storage operator.” The combined REIT has an enterprise value of approximately $46 billion and a portfolio totaling more than 281 million net rentable square feet (NRSF) of storage. Life Storage, which is no longer listed individually, ranked fourth on the 2022 Top Operators list with 1,152 facilities and 89,667,400 NRSF.

Extra Space is now the No. 1 operator, but Public Storage isn’t too far behind at 249.7 million NRSF. A few days after becoming the new No. 2, Public Storage announced its own stellar acquisition: the $2.2 billion purchase of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.’s 127-property Simply Self Storage portfolio. That deal added 9 million NRSF to Public Storage’s portfolio near the end of July.

These consolidations, and others within the industry, have shaken up the rankings and enabled some operators to reach new heights. Though CubeSmart and National Storage Associates (NSA) have kept their 2022 positions (third and fifth, respectively), U-Haul has rocketed up two slots, from No. 6 to No. 4, by adding 136 facilities to its portfolio. Rounding out the top 10 is Storage Asset Management (No. 6), StorageMart (No. 7), Merit Hill Capital (No. 8), and Prime Group Holdings, which was ranked 11^th in 2022 but pushed ahead of StorQuest (No. 10) to come in nineth this year.

As for the rest of the 2023 list, there are 26 operators in this edition that were not listed in 2022. Some of those operators have been ranked on previous Top Operators lists, including Rosewood Property Company (No. 26) and East Penn Self Storage (No. 78); in 2021 they were ranked 30^th and 80^th, respectively. Two high-ranking newcomers on the list are KO Storage (No. 23) and NexPoint Storage Partners (No. 28). There are also a couple new remote management companies this year, such as StoreEase Virtual Management (No. 63) and Remote Management Solutions (No. 67). Copper Storage Management, which has climbed 10 spots, from 42^nd to 32^nd, offers remote management services as well. Rising payroll costs, unexpected employment issues (truancy, turnover, and hiring difficulties), and the need to provide customers with contactless rentals are a handful of the reasons operators may be seeking alternatives to traditional on-site management.

Finally, for the fifth consecutive year, the 2023 list has a total of 101 operators. This is due to a tie between Nova Storage and Polo Properties for 90^th place. Both operators reported a total of 900,000 net rentable square feet of storage space. 

On the following pages, we present the 2023 Top Operators. As in the past, the list is compiled solely from information submitted in the annual Top Operators survey and the ranking is based on total net rentable square feet. Please note: Self-storage facilities that are owned and managed by the same company are only reported in the “Facilities Owned” section of the table. 

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the top operators for their ability to grow their portfolios and expand the self-storage universe despite skyrocketing interest rates, flattening demand, and inflating expenses. May their adaptability and perseverance continue to inspire the future leaders of the self-storage industry.

ithin the self-storage industry, there is one rags-to-riches story that everyone should applaud. Unlike social-climb narratives that transpire overnight, this is a decades-long account of perseverance and hard work—a hill that has been ascended through merit.

The Rauns’ church’s generosity was essential to their survival. While her home had many moments of instability, and she always felt out of place as the “poor kid” on financial aid at wealthy private schools, she says that as she has grown older and had three children of her own, she realizes that her parents’ gift of unconditional love and support without a focus on financial success above all else was and is a greater gift than money could have ever provided. With her father only making $80 per week as a pastor, she learned how to identify a “deal” by shopping with her mother and aunt through using coupons and price comparison. She recalls her mother studying the grocery store circulars and planning out their shopping trips based on her grocery list and which store had the best deal that week.

“I wish more women were comfortable investing given so many of us are brilliant at identifying deals online or in the supermarket and yet so afraid to manage our own money and destiny through investing,” she says.

When it was time to consider higher education, she opted to attend the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for a degree in history and was able to attend due to scholarships and financial aid that recognized her academic achievement.

“I remember that there was an ATM machine in the Wawa below my dorm that allowed you to take out cash in increments as low as $10 that I was so grateful for given I often only had that much to take out, even with the jobs I had throughout the school year and summers to help pay for books and my parents’ enormous sacrifice to help pay as much as they could towards my education.”

Her academic excellence was recognized in 1999, when she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a GPA of 3.94. Despite going to the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School, she credits her father and mother with teaching her by their actions the most important things she has learned which she has relied on throughout her career:

• People matter more than things or keeping up with the “Jones,” so work at a place for the people and not for the money or a stamp on the resume.
• Treat other people like you want to be treated.
• Honor your word and tell the truth, even when it is hard to do so.
• Doing the right thing is always the right thing.

Naturally, Raun Schlesinger’s next step was to seek employment and put her degrees to work. She typed up a resume, printed a stack, and dropped them off at the recruitment office on campus. “I received nine Wall Street job offers,” she says, acknowledging that it was a “great market” at the time of her graduation. “I think my resolve and energy along with the math classes I took that I got As in enabled them to be comfortable that I could do the math and, more importantly, was a thinker and a hard worker.”

In 2005, after earning her MBA, she joined W.P. Carey (WPC); about a year later, she was co-founding its self-storage investment platform as the firm’s first independent investment vertical outside of triple net lease and helped to raise the initial capital for the self-storage platform. “I had spent nine months studying storage and to this day have not met a business I love more.” She credits her deep, detail-oriented data and analytical focus and time spent digging in and “really doing the work” with why she had the courage to jump into an industry that at the time was not at all the obvious sector to invest in like it has become more recently.

Raun Schlesinger devoted over 11 years to WPC, completing 76 self-storage transactions totaling 155 properties that represented investments of more than $1 billion, before numerous management and strategic changes prompted her to leave WPC. Besides the financial implications of this change, Raun Schlesinger was saddened to depart the business that she had built and that the company was no longer the same as the one WPC’s founder had built.

“We’re a unique group in that we’ve been in the sector for a really long time,” says Raun Schlesinger, who has served on its board of directors since its inception, “and have one of the best track records out there with a very strong reputation for doing what we’re doing and honoring our word.”

Since she had already worked so closely with them for many years, it was easy to simultaneously create a strong, supportive, family-like culture that promotes learning and growth. “I focused on building a company with good values,” Raun Schlesinger says, adding that her core values are of utmost importance when hiring new team members. Raun Schlesinger prioritizes empathy above all else because she has treated and continues to treat everyone she has met in her career as a customer—an approach to which she attributes much of her success.

To ensure she hires empathetic people, she requires all candidates to complete a Caliper test, a talent assessment designed to measure an individual’s personality and cognitive skills to predict future job performance. “When you are buying a facility, it is so critical to understand how emotionally charged it can be for someone who is selling you a facility that they have built with their hard work, blood, sweat, and tears and how important it is to them that you treat them fairly.” That’s something she can relate to quite a bit herself after building two of the biggest self-storage portfolios in the country by sleeping only four hours a night for many years.

Hiring for empathy is a strategy that is working so well for Merit Hill that the company has outgrown its office space for the second time; they recently moved to a larger floor within the same Brooklyn building. In addition to the Brooklyn office, Merit Hill has a Dallas office that was opened in 2017 as well as several team members located across the country for ease of travel across Merit Hill’s national portfolio. Altogether, the team now totals more than 30 employees.

As for business transactions, throughout her career she has looked at more than 10,300 facilities, including 8,292 at Merit Hill alone, and purchased 564 facilities. Of those 564 facilities, 434 have been bought in 271 separate deals since she founded Merit Hill; she has 16 more under contract.

With a portfolio totaling more than 22 million net rentable square feet, Merit Hill is the eighth largest self-storage operator in the United States, but reaching that standing was never a priority for Raun Schlesinger, despite being a workaholic with very few boundaries. “Being big was never my goal,” she says, mentioning that she’s only ever been competing with herself. “I just love doing deals. I’m a head down, work hard kind of girl.”

While many women avoid positions in finance (Raun Schlesinger was one of two analysts at her first job in a male-dominated field) and seem to be fearful of investing, she is enticed by “the puzzle” of deals and thoroughly enjoys figuring out how to make them work for everyone, the seller and her investors. More than anything she loves the people in the self-storage industry and says getting to work with so many hard-working entrepreneurs to create “win-win” deals is her favorite part. However, that doesn’t mean she will piece something together just for the sake of making a deal. She is cautious with investors’ money and would never risk losing their funds because she experienced the disappointment of a bad investment at a young age when she put $1,000 of her own money into a tech internet fund and lost almost all of it.

“It was a life lesson,” says Raun Schlesinger, who learned to always understand the fundamentals before making an investment. “I haven’t been interested in investing directly in tech ever since.” As a matter of fact, she doesn’t even have a presence on social media beyond LinkedIn, which she barely ever checks.

For Raun Schlesinger, the fundamentals of self-storage investments are more clear-cut, and she has found a winning formula for Merit Hill by seeking value-add properties. Though she states that “the devil is in the details,” she looks for facilities that have growth opportunity and a reasonable price per square foot. By identifying the “growth left in an asset,” she can increase its value. Some improvements she and her team may make at a facility include utilizing LED lights, expanding its net rentable square footage (if space permits), altering the unit mix, adjusting rental rates, and hiring Extra Space Storage or CubeSmart to manage the property. She credits Extra Space and CubeSmart and her desire to use them as third-party property managers before many people were doing so with so much of her success in the industry due to their ability to improve operations and help increase revenue at her facilities after she purchases them.

“This is incredibly important these days given how popular storage has become and how low initial cap rates can be, especially in such a high interest rate environment. I always say you are kidding yourself if you think ‘mom-and-pop’ owners are stupid given they are in self-storage, which is an incredible business, and also that they know just how valuable their facilities are and how low their rental rates are compared to the market now.”

So, she buys properties by giving them a ton of credit for upside that she absolutely needs to achieve to make the deals work for her and her investors. “It is basically sharing in the risk and value of the potential revenue growth of a self-storage facility.”

“We will be selling some,” says Raun Schlesinger. “We have to do right by our investors and think of their interests first above all else.”

But no matter the size of Merit Hill’s portfolio, she is certain that she won’t be going anywhere. “I love the people in the industry. The people are the reason I stay.”

ut yourself in your customers’ shoes. Take the same journey that your customers must navigate to rent a unit at your self-storage facility. Then, be honest with yourself as you answer these important questions:

• Was it a fast, easy, and convenient experience?
• Approximately how long did it take to secure a unit and move in?
• Could you complete the move-in without assistance? If not, was the customer service you received satisfactory?
• Would you be comfortable storing your valuables at the property?

If you encountered any difficulties or frustrations throughout the rental process, it’s probable that customers, some of whom may be new to self-storage, were/are not completely satisfied with their experience at your facility. In truth, considering that competitors likely exist within the market area, any negative experience could prompt them to rent at another facility—one that provides a better customer experience.

Per Salesforce, 80 percent of consumers believe the customer experience carries as much weight as the company’s product or service. And 54 percent of U.S. customers that PwC surveyed said that most companies need to improve their customer experience. If you’re wondering what matters to those customers, speed, convenience, helpful employees, and friendly service were the most important aspects of the customer experience for nearly 80 percent of PwC’s respondents.

Thankfully, there are benefits to providing an exceptional customer experience. For instance, 65 percent of U.S. customers who responded to PwC’s survey find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than advertising, and 43 percent would pay more for greater convenience.

“I believe that the most successful stores provide the best possible customer experience,” says Lorenzini. “The question is: What steps can an operator take to do this?”

In short, he states that operators can enhance their customer experience by focusing on “intelligent facility design,” utilizing “advanced technology features,” and strengthening branding, but all these items require purposeful deliberation.

“When making design decisions, of course we are considering costs,” he says, “but we are always cognizant of how the design will affect the overall customer experience.”

Claremont’s newest self-storage facility, Storelocal Hercules, a 98,298-net-rentable-square-foot, 794-unit property in Hercules, Calif., is a prime example of his laser focus on the customer experience in the design stage of development. Because the lot was approximately 3.5 acres, he knew from the get-go that a multistory building would be incorporated into the project to make it pencil, even though drive-up units are still favored by many customers for their ease of access. Both single-story and multistory buildings were included in the plan, but Lorenzini was determined to make the three-story building as convenient as the drive-up units.

“We wanted to ensure that our customers would have no trouble accessing upper-floor units,” he says. “We designed the building with a large, covered loading zone that can fit two trucks side by side. Customers access the building through automatic sliding glass doors, which open to a huge elevator lobby with two elevators and several over-sized hand carts. I can tell you from experience that our customers truly appreciate the ease of access; it has made it easy for us to fill the upper-floor units and to achieve higher rents on the upper floors.”

To maximize move-in/move-out efficiency, the loading area and unit mix were strategically mapped out. The elevators are located in the center of the multistory building’s loading area, and having one elevator on each side of the lobby minimizes the distance any customer must travel to reach their unit. “Of course, some units are going to be closer than others, and we can price these units higher, based on distance from elevator,” he says. “There is a unit mix strategy whereby the upper floors tend to be smaller units (predominantly in the range of 5-by-5 up to 10-by-20).”

With most of the market’s storage supply being older product, Lorenzini recognized that a high-tech storage facility would standout from the competition and attract contemporary customers. “As self-storage design has evolved and improved, the consumer’s perception of self-storage has also improved,” he says. “But along with this, customers’ expectations have also increased, especially in the age of Amazon one-click shopping. Self-storage is essentially a retail business, and consumers expect nothing less than what they have come to expect from other retailers. Our customers want an experience that is fast and simple and that can be transacted on their smartphone.”

Lorenzini understood that having mobile-enabled access control and contactless rentals would meet customers’ expectations while improving ROI. “With every project, you learn something,” he says. “What we’ve learned is that the technological aspect is huge, especially in recent years.”

He wanted Storelocal Hercules to be the “most technologically advanced facility in the market,” but first he needed to calculate the costs to determine whether his vision was financially feasible for this facility. “Ultimately, it was not a problem,” Lorenzini says, adding that they are able to charge premium prices for its high-tech features, which include a smart lock on every door, an advanced security system, and a mobile-friendly property management software.

Speaking of smartphones, Storelocal Hercules customers can access the front gate, the elevators, their units, and even the bathrooms with their mobile keys (AKA smartphones). “This truly enhances the customer experience, as there are no more forgotten gate codes and no more lost keys,” Lorenzini says, noting that they use Janus International’s Nokē Smart Entry system, which provides managers with a record of all users who’ve opened access points at any time. “Everything is in an app. The Nokē system has additional benefits such as allowing customers to share a digital key as needed with friends and family. This provides added security as it allows the manager to know who is accessing the facility at any given time. The system also includes a heat and motion sensor in every unit, so that the manager will know if somebody is in a unit after-hours, or if there may be a potential problem. This provides added security and peace of mind for our customers, again, enhancing the customer experience.”

He goes on to say, “The real beauty of smart locks, when integrated with powerful property management software, is that it allows for a completely automated move-in process for customers. Customers are able to rent a unit on their smartphone and gain access to their unit, even after office hours. This level of automation allows us to save money on operational costs. It also allows us to convert more customers.”

With 58 percent of web traffic being conducted on a mobile device, according to Statista, and that percentage expected to increase, it only makes sense to give customers the ability to complete rentals anytime, anywhere, from their smartphone.

“At Storelocal Hercules, approximately 10 percent of our move-ins have been unassisted,” adds Lorenzini. “These are customers that we likely would have lost otherwise.”

n recent months, MSM has been highlighting the importance of data sharing in the self-storage industry. We’ve spoken with many storage leaders about the ways in which sharing data anonymously can strengthen the industry by giving everyone equal footing. Armed with current and accurate data, new owners and seasoned vets alike would be able to make more informed development and operational decisions.

It’s not that this idea is new, so what has stopped those in the industry from sharing in the past?

“People didn’t want to be bothered; they looked at it as just one more thing to do because a lot of the data would have to be inputted manually,” explains Chris Sonne, executive vice president of Newmark Valuation & Advisory Group.

Jeff Adler, vice president of Yardi Matrix, says that they’ve also considered data sharing initiatives. “We’ve thought about ways to get people to share data before,” he says. “So, we floated the idea around to REITs, independents … no one wanted it. In the end, they perceived that the benefit of lack of transparency exceeded the benefits of transparency.”

Despite disinterest from some self-storage owners and operators in the past, efforts to collect data persisted. Here’s a look at some of those initiatives.

Together, the two organizations have been collecting and analyzing information about historic self-storage operations and performance. Their quarterly data collection, aggregated from self-storage facilities throughout the country, includes market inventory, occupancy trends, general historic asking rental rate patterns, and other geographically based data points. SSA members receive discounts on the reports, using the research to support business decisions, particularly in the areas of facility valuation and feasibility studies.

These efforts continue to this day, but it’s not always easy. “Because of our partnership, REIS/Moody’s now track over 10,000 facilities,” says Mike Blackett, SSA’s senior vice president of marketing and communications. Of course, that’s only about one-fifth of the market. “They are always expanding facilities and data; it’s just getting that data from the stores/companies that’s difficult.”

“[The STR launch] was largely driven by demand for a benchmarking platform in the industry, especially among those familiar with our more than three-decade track record in the global hotel industry,” says Nick Minerd, vice president of marketing and communications for STR. “Initially, the focus was on tracking and reporting inventory and development, but we were able to report on performance in dozens of MSAs by 2017. Early 2019 was when we decided to end our work in self-storage and redirect resources internally to our evolving hospitality product.”

Minerd says that those few years working within self-storage provided STR with new relationships and valuable learnings when it came to expanding benchmarking into new industries. “Our success in the hotel industry has been supported by a high level of consolidation, a uniform system of accounting, and a number of disciplines dependent on data,” he adds. “The data we presented to the self-storage industry was well-received, but in the end, there wasn’t going to be enough adoption and application of that data to continue our investment.”

“I’ve been on this bandwagon since the 1990s when we were public,” says Mike Burnham, CEO at StorageMart. “I was pushing for other publicly traded companies to support it, but this was back when Public Storage didn’t even do quarterly conference calls; people didn’t want to share then. The world has changed. Self-storage is now a major food group, not an alternative asset class. There is demand for a database of information about self-storage that will help people understand the market better, and I’m all for it. We’ve been taking baby steps for 25 years; now it’s time to take a big step.”

Travis Morrow, president of National Self Storage, agrees. “The proliferation of property management software, which has moved data to the cloud, makes the sharing of data easier. It would allow operators to share their data anonymously with data services of their choosing … It’s as simple as turning on a ‘switch’ for the operator.”

To help flip that switch, MSM has spoken with numerous project management software companies in the self-storage industry, and although only one has this capability built in, all agree that creating it would be fairly simple—they just want to first understand more about their customers’ data needs. To help facilitate these conversations, click the button below and complete the 60-second online form.

s the Federal Reserve has paused, the rate of increase of self-storage cap rates has slowed. Our 3Q 2023 Self-Storage Investor Survey increased an average of 12 basis points this quarter to an average stabilized cap rate of 5.68 percent. This reflects a total of 46 basis points increase since our 4Q 2022 Investor Survey. Participants remain cautiously optimistic on the sector, despite a slow summer rental season. One response noted other asset classes are phrasing “stay alive until 25,” but that self-storage has remained a steady sector in bull and bear markets, and in times of uncertainty.

The Q3 2023 data is focused primarily on overall capitalization rates, terminal capitalization rates, and discount rate (IRR). Key performance indicators are shown in the table below.

The self-storage team at Newmark Valuation & Advisory surveyed over 50 market participants about a wide variety of data points, including market sentiment, marketing time, and outlook. Survey participants include buyers, brokers, owners (small and large operators including REITs, national and regional owners), investors, lenders, and REIT analysts. Most interviews were in person, by telephone, or via electronic conferencing.

Other notable items from the survey include an expectation of significant increases in sales volume in 2024 as debt will be coming due. This may cause self-storage cap rates to stabilize or even decline as capital on the sidelines competes for acquisitions. Underwriting is becoming “more realistic,” according to another respondent, with less emphasis on negative underwriting suggesting confidence in self-storage over the long run. Many noted a muted supply chain, indicating general market balance in supply and demand factors (highlighting of course the variances among trade areas).

We have recently received more requests to restate our general guidelines for Class-A, Class-B, and Class-C product, summarized below.

Class-A facilities are the top performing assets located in high rent and occupancy markets. Most of these facilities are centered in high-density locations within major MSAs. Markets are under-supplied to equilibrium with high barriers to entry and assets reflect an NOI/SF of at least $10. Construction quality is high with state-of-the-art security features. Projects are generally less than 15 years old and contain at least 75,000 square feet. These properties are rarely offered to the open market; instead, they are offered directly to large, sophisticated operators with large portfolios such as REITs.

Class-B facilities perform well but are in more average markets compared with Class-A locations. Markets are generally equilibrium to slight over-supply with some risk of new construction, and typically have an NOI/SF in a range of $6.00 to $10.00. Construction quality is good with most security features. Projects are well-maintained, but may be 15 to 25 years old, and generally contain 50,000 to 75,000 rentable square feet. These facilities are typically adequately maintained and are purchased by regional or national investors.

Class-C product are the remaining facilities. They often have a rural location with low barriers to entry (lots of land, less challenges to zoning and entitlements). They generally have an NOI/SF of less than $6.00. Markets are often over-supplied and rarely do Class-C facilities have economic occupancy higher than 85 percent. Facilities are generally 25 years old or older and may require capital expenditures for deferred maintenance. Projects are typically smaller than 50,000 square feet of rentable area.

The Q4 2023 Investor Survey may foreshadow performance for 2024. Global uncertainties such as the recent attack on Israel exacerbate uncertainty and existing concerns of macro-economic conditions. However, the yield inversion is down to almost 25 bps (down from nearly 100) suggesting an economic soft landing, not a recession. Based on our 3Q 2023 Investor Survey, participants remain cautiously optimistic about self-storage.

“Serving on the board for Charity Storage has been a very rewarding experience for me,” said Snyder. “Seeing Charity Storage’s growth over the past few years has been incredible! The Storable team and I have been able to participate in Charity Storage’s ambassador program at many local and state events and we continue to be active sponsors. Everyone involved is passionate about the program and wants to see it succeed, from participating facilities to sponsors and volunteers, to everyone on the board. The Storable team and I are very proud to be able to support this program.”

“Most companies can find a way to give back to their community,” said Snyder. “The most common mistake I see is companies fail to consider the resources or opportunities they have within their business. Instead of integrating philanthropy within their operations, they tend to keep it separate. Get your employees involved, volunteer your time at charitable events, sponsor local youth sports teams, donate storage—there are so many ways you can give back to your community. Giving back not only serves as a means to promote your brand, but also creates a pathway to seamlessly merge your company’s success with your philanthropic goals. This is just one of the many reasons why we have a deep appreciation for the Charity Storage program, because it seamlessly integrates into self-storage operations. Storable’s technology suite saves our customers valuable time and empowers them to efficiently manage their self-storage business. This efficiency enables operators to engage in initiatives like Charity Storage to magnify their charitable efforts.”

Whether it’s donating free storage units to victims of natural disasters, raising funds for food banks, or organizing annual events aimed at supplying clothing to the homeless, Storable is committed to fostering a culture of empathy, compassion, and generosity. “If I were to simplify why Storable actively participates in charitable activities, it’s because we care first and foremost about people. With the backing of an incredible team and the means to give back, why wouldn’t we invest in philanthropic efforts and give charitable organizations the necessary resources to help people?” asked Snyder.

“In our industry, many products often lack seamless communication and require manual intervention from operators just to manage their business. Storable, on the other hand, has successfully created a cohesive operational experience that bridges the gaps, enabling operators to focus more on growth and efficiency [and] setting the benchmark for what a comprehensive storage solution should be,” said Snyder. “It’s truly rewarding to be a part of an organization that thinks big in every aspect. Our philanthropic endeavors are pretty big in both scale and impact, and so is the suite of technology and the solutions we have to offer. This is how we distinguish ourselves from our competitors and why we’re able to create big change in our communities.”

Charity Storage utilizes existing storage facility operations to raise funds to support charities throughout the United States. Donated and abandoned items are placed into a vacant unit and the contents are auctioned off on site or online via StorageTreasures.com or other online auction platforms. Operators online with StorageTreasures.com can opt-in via their account dashboard today and start selling charity units immediately.

They wanted to establish a giving day that reminded everyone of the true meaning of the holiday season, encouraging people to think beyond materialistic pursuits and contribute to meaningful causes that positively impact society.

Here’s why Giving Tuesday matters today:

• Fostering generosity – Giving Tuesday dedicates a day to radical generosity, encouraging individuals to cultivate a culture of philanthropy and altruism. It reminds people of the joy and fulfillment of helping others and contributing to charitable causes that resonate with their values.
• Creating positive change – Giving Tuesday provides a unique opportunity for individuals and organizations to support various causes, from education and healthcare to environmental conservation and social justice. It can drive substantial resources toward addressing pressing global challenges as a collective force.
• Promoting global impact – Giving Tuesday has become a global day, celebrated in numerous countries worldwide since its birth. It transcends cultural and geographical boundaries, promoting global unity and compassion.
• Empowering nonprofits – Giving Tuesday is a crucial fundraising event for nonprofits and charitable organizations. It allows them to gain visibility, attract new donors, and engage with supporters interested in making a greater social impact.
• Building community – Giving Tuesday unites people, businesses, and communities around a shared purpose. It cultivates a sense of togetherness, reminding us that we can make positive changes when we work together.

Not sure where to start? Here are some diverse and impactful options that StorageGives supports year-round:

• Shriners Childrens – Shriners provides specialized pediatric care for children with over 1.4 million patients treated. Their treatment ranges include burn care, cleft palate, and spinal cord injuries.
• Kure It Cancer Research – Kure It continues its quest to raise awareness and fight cancer. By utilizing impactful events and groundbreaking initiatives, Kure It grows its community partnerships, fosters donor relations, and provides funds for vital research grants. Funds from Kure It begin the cancer research cycle that can lead to new discoveries, clinical trials, and breakthroughs in cancer detection, prevention, and treatments.
• Home for Our Troops – Homes For Our Troops is a publicly funded nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 veterans to enable them to rebuild their lives.
• Mission Feeding – Mission Feeding outreach has been a proven answer to the nutritional needs of starving and malnourished children. Each bowl of food contains vitamins and nutrients needed to stop the vicious cycle of malnutrition and death. Currently, Mission Feeding feeds over 350,000 children in villages across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Alzheimer’s Association – The Alzheimer’s Association leads the way to end Alzheimer’s and all other dementia by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support.
• Autism Speaks – Autism Speaks is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan. They do this through advocacy, services, support, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.
• Breast Cancer Research Foundation – The Breast Cancer Research Foundation is dedicated to ending breast cancer by advancing the world’s most promising research. This year, BCRF is the largest private funder of breast cancer research and metastatic breast cancer research worldwide and is the highest-rated breast cancer research organization in the country.
• Water for Life – Water for LIFE began in 2000 and has helped provide more than 6,500 water wells so far in Sub-Saharan Africa. They have a goal of 350 new wells this year to combat the 844 million people lacking access to safe drinking water.
• Joy International – JOY INTERNATIONAL is dedicated to the prevention of child trafficking and to the freedom, healing, and empowerment of trafficked children, teens, and young adults worldwide.

Donations in 2022 increased 900 percent, through both small and large contributions from the over 600 self-storage vendors and brands that have partnered with StorageGives. Collectively, the self-storage community was able to double the number of children fed through Mission Feeding, an organization that provides meals for malnourished children in villages across Sub-Saharan Africa. Every 50 cents feeds four children, proving that each small donation has a big impact. The number of meals provided through StorageGives contributions doubled in 2022, equaling over 500,000 meals served.

Not only did StorageGives distribute over $150,000 in grants in 2022, but it grew its footprint by joining four state self-storage associations, including the Arizona, Tennessee, Louisiana, and North Carolina associations. Partnering with these and other associations allows StorageGives to expand its network of self-storage partners.

Partnering with StorageGives is simple. Operators who utilize StorageAuctions.com as their online auction vendor can choose to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to StorageGives. Vendors and other industry partners can also make a direct donation to the organization. For more information about joining the hundreds of industry partners who are making a change, visit StorageGives.org.

e’ve all heard the hype about how the latest and greatest revenue management (RM) system can accelerate self-
storage revenue growth. Industry analysts extol the virtues of “advanced technology” as publicly traded REITs emphasize the ways they can improve the bottom line by using their advanced RM systems. But what are these systems, and are they good for the long-term health of our industry?

Essentially, RM systems attempt to predict how customers will respond to price changes on an item being sold. In many industries, there is meaningful “elasticity of demand,” meaning that as prices decrease, demand will increase. But there is very little elasticity of demand in self-storage because we sell a “needs-based” product. The item we “sell” is a month of use in a storage unit. The RM system tries to predict how an existing or prospective customer will respond to an increase or decrease in the price of a rental unit.

There are two problems with using RM systems in self-storage. The first is that algorithms always use historical data to predict customer response. That works fine when history continues to repeat itself, which has been true over the past 15 years while demand has continuously grown. Today, that historical trend has stopped because one entire segment of historical demand has disappeared. Almost no one today is selling their existing home with a 3 to 4 percent mortgage to move into a nicer home with a 7 to 8 percent mortgage! That segment of demand has disappeared, making the basis for many of today’s RM algorithms invalid.

The second problem with using RM systems in our industry is that we have almost no upside elasticity of demand, so we aren’t creating any more demand by reducing our prices. All we are doing is fighting over the limited number of customers already out there. Today, the RM-driven price reductions just create competitive responses that drive increased rivalry and a “race to the bottom” on prices. And RM systems are terrible at predicting competitive responses with no historically comparable data.

Historically, self-storage has been a very strong industry for long-term profitability because the intensity of rivalry has been relatively low. Property owners only competed within their 3- to 5-mile trade radius for very fragmented, low-ticket customers paying month to month—unlike office, warehouse, and retail properties with big-ticket customers on long-term leases. It made no sense to jeopardize profitability by cutting prices to get one small customer. But automated RM systems that don’t have the historical data or intelligence to accurately predict competitive responses are now driving advertised prices in the majority of our markets. In today’s world of reduced demand, these RM systems are seriously detrimental for the industry.