• December 24, 2024

MSM Exclusives

MSM Exclusives

12 Feb, 2021

Look Who’s Talking – Jen Pettigrew, Senior VP, Meetings & Vendor Relations, Self Storage Association

With a new, larger location, the MGM Grand, this year’s Self Storage Association (SSA) Fall Conference and Trade Show is expected to be bigger and...

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12 Feb, 2021

Look Who’s Talking – Bill Alter, managing director – Self-Storage Group, Rein & Grossoehme Commercial Real Estate

With this issue of the Mini-Storage Messenger featuring our annual Top Operators List, there’s no better time to discuss how ownership within the...

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12 Feb, 2021

Revenue Management: A Business Discipline, Not A Project

Everyone does pricing. Some do it by intuition, others do it in a more sophisticated way. Every seller knows that you want the price to be just...

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12 Feb, 2021

Making A Lasting And Positive First Impression

I attended a seminar last week that discussed trends in the real estate market for the self-storage industry. The discussion revolved around the...

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12 Feb, 2021

It’s What’s Inside That Counts

August is sort of a bittersweet month for me. It’s the time two of my kids are getting ready to head to college and my youngest is deciding whose...

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lease termination rights

4 Feb, 2021

Dealing With The New Normal: Enhancing Owner Lease Termination Rights

At the end of each year, we like to look back and analyze the past year to see what we can do to better help operators, and the past year has been...

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4 Feb, 2021

Designs Of The Day: Will The Changing Economy Impact Self-Storage Architecture?

Recent architectural trends in self-storage appear likely to continue in 2021, some industry experts say. These trends include contemporary exterior...

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4 Feb, 2021

Urban Exodus: Should Storage Shift To The Suburbs?

In March 2019, when the initial threat of COVID-19 became evident and mass lockdowns were ordered, almost everything stopped, including many...

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4 Feb, 2021

Look Who’s Talking – Chris Sonne, Executive Vice President, Newmark Valuation & Advisory Group

While we have all likely sighed in relief that 2020 is finally behind us, the new year begins with some of the familiar uncertainties that plagued...

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26 Jan, 2021

Staying Power: Thirty-Five Years Of Capco

“From humble beginnings come great things” is a saying that isn’t attributed to anyone in particular, but it is definitely fitting as the motto for...

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26 Jan, 2021

Hammer Time! Are Live Auctions Going, Going, Gone?

In 2019, Casey Jones, owner of BC Cole Auctioneers in Phoenix, Ariz., was thinking of adding an online platform to his auction business, but he...

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26 Jan, 2021

Managing Employees During the Covid Crisis

As businesses suffer, including self-storage operations, there are some inevitable questions that apply to managing staff, especially those that...

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19 Jan, 2021

Bring On The Perks! Creating An Attractive Benefits Package

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate fell from 3.8 percent in March 2019 to 3.6 percent in April—the lowest...

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19 Jan, 2021

Self-Storage Renovations: What Other Industries Have Taught Us

You might be thinking, “How are self-storage renovations the same as other business renovations? They are completely different industries.” Although...

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12 Jan, 2021

Starting Out Strong: Five Magic Questions You Must Ask

I’m talking about our telephone and walk-in greeting process and the questions and command of the situation that determine how things will proceed....

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6 Jan, 2021

Look Who’s Talking: Ann Parham, CEO and President of Joshua Management

In March, no one could have predicted that COVID-19 would be an ongoing issue and topic of discussion in November. Even though we are growing more...

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6 Jan, 2021

Mastering Online Meetings: Industry Embraces A New Reality

The pandemic brought changes to the way most companies do business, and the self-storage industry is no exception. One challenge to be addressed was...

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14 Dec, 2020

Canopy Covered RV Installation Best Practices for Storage Facility’s Businesses

Baja Carports Baja Constructions’ in-house design engineers and project managers place emphasis on the proposed site’s layout first; “fact-checking”...

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11 Dec, 2020

2020 Facility Of The Year New Facility Winner: SmarterSpace Storage Archer Road

As a new developer, Erik Henson, owner of SmarterSpace Storage Archer Road, took a wise approach and sought out vendors with proven success in the...

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11 Dec, 2020

2020 Facility Of The Year International Winner: XYZ Storage – Eastern

XYZ Storage wants to make life for its customers “as easy as XYZ,” and it has embodied that philosophy with its newest storage facility, XYZ Storage...

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11 Dec, 2020

2020 Facility Of The Year Renovation Winner: National Storage Centers – Bloomfield East

The year is 1984. Macintosh aired its iconic “1984” ad, “Purple Rain” is a splash at the box office, and a new mini-storage facility in Pontiac,...

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11 Dec, 2020

2020 Facility Of The Year Construction Winner: Metro Self Storage, South Brunswick, N.J.

It’s not always easy to find that “sweet spot” in a secondary market—a location where the population density is strong, the median income is high,...

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11 Dec, 2020

2020 Facility Of The Year Conversion Winner: StorCo Self Storage

James Reid has an ambitious goal for StorCo Self Storage, a company he founded in 2015. He envisions expanding StorCo into a nationwide company...

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11 Dec, 2020

2020 Facility Of The Year Overall Facility Winner: Brickhouse Self Storage

When the owners of Brickhouse Self Storage began envisioning their dream, they didn’t have a cookie-cutter facility in mind; they had a dream of...

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marijuana at work

10 Dec, 2020

Marijuana In The Workplace

As of Jan. 1, 2020, there are 11 states (and the District of Columbia) that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Those states are...

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10 Dec, 2020

Lease It Up! Tackling Tenancy Troubles In Tough Markets

Owners and operators who were part of the first- and second-generation wave of self-storage may have lived by the “build it and they will come”...

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arbitration

3 Dec, 2020

The Benefits Of Arbitration To Resolve Tenant Disputes

It is inevitable that disputes will occur between self-storage tenants and facility operators. Those disputes can range from alleged property loss...

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3 Dec, 2020

Merry Marketing! Unwrap The Seasonal Slump

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but if you’re not effectively marketing during this historical slower season you might find a lump of coal in your...

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19 Nov, 2020

Is It A Great Site? Factors To Consider Before Developing Self-Storage

From vacant big box buildings and urban infill locations to parcels in secondary markets or municipalities with high barriers to entry, there is no...

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jeffrey s. dallenbach

18 Nov, 2020

Look Who’s Talking: Jeffrey S. Dallenbach, ARCHCON / DALLENBACH-COLE Architecture

Although there is still plenty of capital and investors for new self-storage development, as well as demand for additional supply across the...

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