MSM has a rich and storied history with roots that can be traced back to the 1970s.

In 1974, when self-storage was still a relatively new concept, Hardy Good co-founded the Mini Storage Insurance Corporation (later MiniCo Insurance Agency), providing storage insurance for customers and property/liability insurance for facility owners. Shortly afterwards, the Mini Storage Security Company was formed, offering padlocks, access control systems, and other security devices. This was followed by Mini Storage Service Corporation in 1978, supplying bookkeeping systems and other services to self-storage owners.

Through these endeavors and as a charter member and active participant in the Self-Service Storage Association (now the Self-Storage Association), Hardy developed a unique and comprehensive industry perspective that he wanted to share with others in the industry. This gave birth to The Mini-Storage Messenger, a small industry newsletter, in 1979.

With Hardy at the helm, the magazine really took off at the dawn of the 1980s, evolving into a full-fledged quarterly trade journal with a new magazine format and a global reach. The Mini-Storage Messenger adopted the slogan “The voice of the self-storage industry" and it was true – not only did owner/operators, managers, developers, and financial analysts rely on the magazine, it became regularly cited by major media outlets including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune to name just a few.

Additional annual publications were also produced over the years, including Self-Storage Now!, Self-Storage Canada, The Self-Storage Development Handbook, The Self-Storage Expense Guidebook, and more.

Arguably the most influential new publication was the Self-Storage Almanac. First released in 1993, the Almanac was created to provide data and information that would help self-storage operators run their businesses more efficiently. The other goal of the Almanac was to show that self-storage was evolving into a growing real estate asset class of its own. Since then, the Almanac has continued to expand and improve the scope of the data and knowledge presented to the industry year after year. Today, the Almanac remains the most widely used source of self-storage data in the industry.

In 2023, The Mini-Storage Messenger was purchased from MiniCo by Storelocal Media Corporation leading to the biggest evolution of all. Under the direction of Storelocal CEO Travis Morrow, the magazine became part of the all-encompassing banner MSM. Now simply known as Messenger, the magazine was rebranded and reformatted into a sleekly bound publication with an enhanced digital presence. The website and ecommerce store were also revamped, now powered by Hubspot and Shopify, respectively, offering easier navigation, more interactive elements, and a better shopping experience.