toreIT, a self-storage development and ownership company, has five core values: exceptional customer service, win-win deals for everyone involved, focus on opportunities and solutions when problems arise, hard work, and accountability. For the opening of their newest facility in Porterville, Calif., which was inaugurated in August 2025, all their core values were tested during the development process.

It all started when the founder of StoreIT, Dr. Wayde Elliott, was approached by the Porterville Unified School District to lease space in StoreIT’s existing facility at the time, also in the Porterville area. Elliott took them on a walk around the site, and that’s when the representative from the school district said, “Maybe we should just buy this site?” At first, Elliott didn’t understand why he should even consider selling his space. After all, he had a successful self-storage facility, with 85 percent occupancy, happy customers, and happy employees. Why interfere with a winning team, right?

“I didn’t think that he was serious and kind of laughed it off,” recalls Elliott. However, he saw an opportunity, a potential win-win deal. “The more I thought about it, I realized that maybe it was a good solution.”

The Porterville Unified School District was interested in the site because of its location, situated near the Porterville College, which meant a win for them and a beneficial deal. They were interested in the size of the site and intended to use it for another purpose, not as a self-storage facility. But what about the win for the StoreIT team?

Elliott realized that by selling his existing site, he could purchase another site in the Porterville area and change the location of his existing facility, Porterville Storage. “It’s a good deal for us because we get to do exactly what we want on our new site, from a unit mix perspective to an energy-efficient perspective,” he says.

Here’s the opportunity Elliott envisioned: build a new, updated self-storage facility with more units and more potential to attract additional tenants. Essentially, it was a chance to upgrade to Porterville Storage 2.0. The previous facility was almost fully occupied, so StoreIT could expand its business and profits by building a bigger facility. However, leveling up was easier said than done.

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Changing the location of your existing facility encompasses a few things, which can be viewed as problems or challenges. Those difficulties include finding a new site that’s near your existing site for the convenience of your tenants, embarking on the construction process from the ground up, figuring out what updates to add to the new facility, and—the most challenging aspect of all—moving more than 400 tenants from one facility to the other. So, how did the StoreIT team manage these challenges?

Elliott shares that he has a “shotgun” approach to identifying potential sites; he tries a few different tactics to find the perfect site. He has developed relationships with brokers, as well as with people in the industry, who send him potential sites. In addition, Elliott also uses the CoStar website, which is marketed as the world leader in commercial real estate information; that’s how he found the new site for Porterville Storage.

“It needed to be within a short distance of our existing site, and this just happened to be separated by one property, so it’s the perfect location and there’s a lot more traffic,” Elliott says, adding that the new site, before it was purchased by StoreIT, was a farmhouse. It’s 18 acres and just 0.5 miles away from the previous site. “It’s a pretty big site; it was just fields and a barn. It was basically a blank canvas. We could go in and do exactly what we wanted on the site.”

After acquiring the site, the StoreIT team faced some hurdles to surmount. “We ran into some challenges getting entitled and permitted. There was an irrigation ditch that went through the site. We had to deal with the irrigation ditch, where that water goes, and what happened there,” he says.

Elliott credits their general contractor, Gary Day, from DAYCO Construction, with finding the solution. “He treated it like his own project. He had ownership and an ability, and really went above and beyond working out some of these things and getting it to the finish line. He had to overcome a lot more. We heard a lot about it on paper, but what he did was remarkable. It was super helpful, and that just goes to show how important a team is,” says Elliott.

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But the main issue was moving 400-plus tenants from one site to the new facility. “We had to figure out how to move all the tenants from the existing site to the new site,” says Elliott, “and make sure that everybody was happy.”

That’s where the managers of Porterville Storage, Marie Cooke and Gerri Perez, came in to save the day. Cooke and Perez created an intricate plan to move the tenants in the easiest way possible, without much disturbance. Every single member of the StoreIT team agrees that Cooke and Perez were the driving forces behind this move. They made a challenging situation become something that can only be described as a huge success.

“Marie and Gerri are our boots on the ground. They’re there every day; they’re kind of our eyes and ears, and they’re keeping our No. 1 core value: exceptional customer service. This could be a freaking disaster; I mean there are so many areas that it could go wrong, but I think that having a really good team is making it all go right, which I can’t take credit for—that’s the team,” Elliott says.

StoreIT’s acquisition analyst, Chase Elliott, shares that watching Cooke and Perez work was his favorite part of the process of developing the new site for Porterville Storage. “It was super rewarding for me to see, and I’m sure it’s really rewarding for them to see come to fruition,” he says, adding that the tenants were excited to move. “A lot of people on our end may have thought, ‘Oh, some of these [tenants] might leave.’ It could’ve been a difficult transition if someone else was in charge of the process instead of Marie and Gerri, but it’s a beautiful thing to see a tenant come in and be excited and ready to move.”

“Gerri and Marie took the plan and rolled with it. They made it happen. They have done a magnificent job,” adds COO Valyrie German.

Cooke and Perez created many different documents, including online spreadsheets, a variety of folders with information about each tenant and their units, and a huge poster containing the names of tenants, their unit at the former site, and their new unit number at the new facility. The managers also separated the tenants into small groups to make the move simpler.

“I have the buildings at the new site separated between the south and the north. Then, I have [on the former site] building A and building B. So, of course, we’re going to empty building B first,” Cooke says.

Tenants were given two possibilities regarding the move. “We have given tenants two separate options,” says Perez. “One is for the professional movers. We went out and interviewed with different moving companies, and we went with a local moving company over here in Porterville. We’ll cover the costs for them to professionally move their units from the old site to the new site, as well as give them a free month upon entering the new site. The second option we gave them was a DIY, which we will provide them a $50 gift card and a free month upon entering the new site for them to move their belongings themselves.”

They had approximately the same number of people who wanted to utilize movers as the DIYers. To make sure that the move wasn’t confusing, Cooke and Perez also divided the tenants between DIYers and those using professional movers. Each of these groups had a specific moving date, so that it wouldn’t be congested and crowded inside the building.

Cooke and Perez also contacted each tenant, sending emails and text messages and making phone calls. Some of the tenants were more difficult to reach than others, so Cooke’s solution was to drive to their houses.

“They’re local, so honestly, we have met them before, so we wouldn’t be a stranger,” she says. “Put yourself in their shoes. Let’s say I changed my phone number and, for some reason, I’m not getting my mail, and this person that I’m storing my stuff with comes up to my house just to make sure I’m not left behind; I mean, doesn’t that go far?”

Although the intention was there, it wasn’t necessary to drive to any of the tenants’ houses. Thankfully, they were able to contact everyone.

The new and improved Porterville Storage opened with more units and 60 percent occupancy. They were able to listen to the feedback from their tenants and add features that were requested, such as a vehicle wash bay, drive-up units, and even music to the large climate-controlled building. With 700-plus units, they offer covered, uncovered, and fully enclosed parking options.

“It’s important to know that adding a wash bay and music are costs. We’re not charging people to wash; we’re doing it because we know they’ll enjoy it. We want to make the tenant experience better, and ultimately, in the long run, have tenants that want to stay and stay longer,” Chase Elliott says.

Perez adds that listening to their customers’ feedback is very important. “It helps a customer understand that their feedback is valued and that we want to do the best for them. It’s a win-win for all of us, all around.”

The secret to the success of StoreIT is the appreciation between the team members and their care for the tenants. “Marie and Gerri stand up every time a customer walks through the door; you don’t see that these days, especially in the storage industry,” says Ashley Pollard, executive assistant and marketing specialist.

And their hard work has paid off. Porterville Storage has over 600 positive reviews on Google. “When I tell you that I have nothing negative to say about all the employees. They are the nicest people you will ever come across and so very helpful. I rate them a 1,000,000/5,” said one of the facility’s happy customers in a review.