hen Margaux Chetrit, writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and newly minted self-storage star, joins the Zoom interview, she’s the one asking the questions. The first order of business is wondering if this writer has ever visited Montreal (not unless an airport layover counts). It doesn’t, says Chetrit with a smile, so she encourages a trip to visit someday.
“It’s a lovely place, and such a foodie city,” she says. “A lot of people call it ‘Europe in North America,’ but I think it has its own character, which you’d have to experience for yourself.”
Before settling in for some questions about herself, she adds, “Just don’t come in the winter; it’s way too cold.”
That professional career took off after she earned several degrees from McGill University (not content to just study, she also took summer jobs, including a stint at the prominent commercial real estate firm Colliers). She then moved to Israel to earn her graduate degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Of course, being Chetrit, that wasn’t enough of an undertaking, so she decided to learn on the job too.
She began an internship in Israel’s parliament while working as a journalist for the leading English-language newspaper in the Middle East and getting through a full graduate course load. Conflict had recently broken out in the region, so many of her stories were about fostering understanding across borders and life during war. “Some of it was written from a pretty naive perspective at the time,” she says.
But Chetrit, as you can imagine, is not one to sit still for long. “When COVID hit, I thought, maybe the rest of the world could stay home, but I had work to do.” That’s how, in the middle of a global pandemic, she became chief of staff for a Canadian health care chain. “Not only were we dealing with the pandemic, but just months before the shutdown, the company I was working for had made a significant amount of acquisitions, going from small to one of the largest, so we had our work cut out for us.”
But she eventually did say “yes.” What convinced her? “To be honest, the recruiter was my babysitter when I was a kid, so I trusted her,” says Chetrit, “at least enough to give it a chance. At first, I didn’t see the fit. Then I looked closer and realized the sector was a blank canvas for community and brand. I discovered more possibilities than I’d ever imagined, and today I’m all in.”
She was quickly tapped to lead a new co-working project which would evolve into the growing ClickSpace brand. Because the pandemic hadn’t yet eased up and brick-and-mortar commercial tenants were going out of business, the idea was to make ClickSpace an e-commerce service hub. “Private offices, work lofts, a podcast studio, rooftop lounge and terrace, storage, integrated third-party logistics (3PL)—everything physical a modern e-commerce business could need. We called it ClickSpace, and it sold out quickly.”
Despite ClickSpace’s early success, Chetrit noticed there was a gap. Over the course of a few years, roughly 60 businesses cycled through the project and only one was woman-owned (actually co-owned). “We were speaking to a very narrow demographic,” she says. “Women are often the decision-makers at home and in small businesses. I recognized the need to broaden our appeal.”
Demand from the series translated into space needs. With Scotiabank’s support, Chetrit led Phase Two of ClickSpace, a workspace designed specifically for female founders including private offices, amenities, and community baked into the plan. It pre-leased before there was even a blueprint and has remained full ever since.
The next big undertaking was creating a female-focused self-storage facility. While working on Montreal Mini-Storage’s latest property at 500 Sauvé Ouest, Chetrit and her colleagues, Andrea LaFrechoux (director of real estate), Serena Miscione (leasing specialist), Alida Wu (senior financial analyst), and Tonia Assaf (construction project manager), looked around the room and realized they were five women in leadership positions. That’s when the aha moment happened, and they decided to design the project to reflect their own needs, and those of their peers. The result is Montreal Mini-Storage’s 24th facility and the first storage facility of its kind designed by women, for women.
Julie Roy, the Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor, stood in place for the mayor, who was out sick that day, and led the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, recognizing the project’s contribution to inclusive urban development. The program also included remarks by Hayley Newman-Petryshyn, co-director of Monthly Dignity, whose mission is to end period poverty. Her organization is among a handful of non-profits Montreal Mini-Storage welcomed to the facility free of charge.
As part of its dedication to economic empowerment and support for women, Montreal Mini-Storage also offers discounted storage rates priced at 82 cents on the dollar to bring attention to the gender wage gap. While several units have been donated or heavily discounted to female-led businesses and causes, all tenants are welcome at the facility as the property has universal appeal. She believes that when a lot of people think of self-storage, they conjure up some scary place where nefarious goings-on are the norm. “We’re rewriting the storage story from ‘dark and dingy’ to welcoming, safe, and art-forward … and most notably, for everyone.”
Before moving on, Chetrit says she needs to give one very important shout-out to company CEO Simon Berman. “When the five of us ladies came up with this vision, Simon gave us 100 percent carte blanche. Never peeked into the office to know what was going on or questioned a single thing we were doing. Instead, he gave us full autonomy and cheered us on every step of the way.”
She continues, stating that the fact that Berman has placed five women in leadership roles, in the self-storage industry no less, says a lot about the type of man and leader he is.
For Montreal Mini-Storage, the value proposition isn’t about space. “We don’t just sell four walls,” says Chetrit; “we make homes for your milestones and memories.”
And it looks like, after a series of globe-trotting adventures and careers, Chetrit has found a home in self-storage too.
t Montreal Mini-Storage, I like to think we’re more entrepreneurial and flexible than most real-estate businesses our size. Even so, Margaux regularly pushes us out of our comfort zone—in the best way. I used to call her a triple threat. In truth, she’s a quadruple threat: She has the ideas, she can execute them, she knows how to run a facility, and she develops the partnerships and relationships that matter.
From early on, the initiative had widespread support from the Mayor and her deputies, as well as from the local community. Margaux deserves the credit for garnering that support.
The grand opening was unlike any other: people from the local chamber of commerce, community members, non-profits, politicians, and women from our organization whom she rallied. There was food, art, a terrific (female) DJ—an ambitious event, flawlessly organized.
Ultimately, Margaux has made us realize how important it is to build and care for our brand and to be consistent with it. Even in what many consider a commoditized business, she keeps finding ways for us to stand out—and it’s a huge part of our success.