StorageMart, a family-owned company that operates more than 190 self-storage properties across Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, is welcoming its next generation of leadership as Alex Burnam, son of company president Cris Burnam, has been appointed to the position of senior acquisitions analyst. In the newly created role, Alex Burnam will implement systems and processes that will streamline and modernize the company’s property-acquisition process and accelerate its growth opportunities, according to a press release.

"I think being family-owned has given us a unique environment that helped us become successful," said Cris Burnam. "The family atmosphere allows us to be open. We genuinely care about the growth of our team, and I couldn't be more excited to bring my son onboard officially."

Over the years, Alex Burnam has worked at StorageMart in various capacities, including interning for the marketing department and acquisitions team, and managing a company facility. "It means a lot to me to be a part of the family business,” he said. “I remember at a very young age going to the old headquarters to see my grandpa, so things have really come full circle, and I'm ready to hit the ground running."

Alex Burnam majored in finance and legal studies at Tulane University in New Orleans. After graduating last year, he worked at Heitman, a Chicago-based real estate management firm. While there, he collaborated on real estate closings in excess of $275 million in the firm’s acquisitions department, the release stated.

Founded in 1999 and based in Columbia, Mo., StorageMart is privately owned and operated by the Burnam family, which has been in the storage industry for three generations. It serves more than 75,000 self-storage customers, and operates in Chinese, English, Punjabi, Quebecois French and Spanish.

National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSAT), a Maryland real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in self-storage, continues to expand its presence in Florida. The company recently acquired Stor-N-More Self Storage in Tampa for $19 million through its affiliate, NSA Property Holdings LLC, according to a press release from SkyView Advisors, the investment-sales and advisory firm that represented the seller, Crosstown Stor-N-More LLC. The property comprises 117,655 net rentable square feet in 1,105 units.

Built on 7.02 acres in 2008, the facility includes 880 climate-controlled units and 70 spaces for vehicles and miscellaneous use, the release stated. The purchase price equates to $161.91 per square foot.

The population is 70,128 within a three-mile radius of the property and jumps to 164,162 when the radius is expanded to five miles, according to the release. “This property is a high-quality, class-A facility in a prime location,” said Ryan Clark, director of investment sales at SkyView.

The Stor-N-More website rolls over to Hide-Away Storage, which would suggest the facility will be branded under the Hide-Away name. Hide-Away became NSAT’s seventh participating regional operator (PRO) a year ago. It contributed its 14 properties comprising about 1 million rentable square feet to the REIT’s self-storage portfolio for approximately $115 million. In March, NSAT signed an agreement to add Florida-based Personal Mini Storage as the REIT’s eighth PRO. Personal Mini manages 40 facilities in mid-Florida comprising approximately 2.7 million rentable square feet.

SkyView is a boutique firm specializing in self-storage acquisition, development, facility expansion and renovation, refinancing, and sales. Based in Tampa, the firm also has offices in Cleveland and Milwaukee.

Headquartered in Greenwood, Colo., NSAT is a self-administered and -managed REIT focused on the acquisition, operation and ownership of self-storage properties within the top 100 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas throughout the United States. The company has ownership interest in 456 storage facilities in 23 states. Its portfolio comprises approximately 28 million net rentable square feet. It's owned by its affiliate operators, who are contributing their interests in their self-storage assets over the next few years as their current mortgage debt matures.

Inside Self-Storage (ISS) and Janus International Group have released a new publication titled, “Case Study: Top Self Storage Proves Why It's Tops in Miami.” The free downloadable PDF explores how the self-storage operator revitalized an underperforming Florida property through renovation.

The study explains the challenges Top Self Storage faced prior to the rejuvenation project, including a lack of curb and consumer appeal, and the need to expand. It also provides details about the property makeover, including the various enhancements that were made, such as new doors and hallways, an improved rental office, advanced technology, and more.

This and other case studies can be downloaded from the Whitepapers page of the ISS Resource Center. Another recent Janus whitepaper, “R3: Renovate, Remodel or Retrofit for Retention, Revenue and Real (Estate) Value,” can be downloaded from the same page.

Headquartered in Temple, Ga., Janus has eight U.S. locations as well as manufacturing facilities in Europe and Mexico. The company is owned by Saw Mill Capital Partners LP, a New York-based private equity investment fund managed by Saw Mill Capital LLC.

For more than 25 years, ISS has provided informational resources for the self-storage industry. Its educational offerings include ISS magazine, the annual ISS World Expo, an extensive website, the ISS Store, and Self-Storage Talk, the industry’s largest online community.

Self-storage real estate investment trust Life Storage Inc. and its joint-venture partner have acquired two Storage Express facilities in Lancaster and Palmdale, Calif., in an off-market transaction. Together, the properties contain 1,390 storage units and 182 vehicle-parking spaces.

The Lancaster facility at 2103 W. Ave. J includes 774 units and 60 parking spaces. The Palmdale site at 380 W. Palmdale Blvd., in the Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles County, has 616 units and 122 parking spaces. It also includes land entitlements to build another 36,000 square feet of storage space. Both properties are visible from freeways.

The seller, Martin Properties Inc., was represented in the transaction by John Battle, a principal and managing director for Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura Inc., the real estate firm that brokered the deal.

Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Life Storage operates 675 self-storage facilities in 29 states under the Life Storage and Uncle Bob’s brands. Its portfolio of owned and managed facilities comprises more than 45 million square feet.

Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura offers brokerage services to the industrial, office, retail, self-storage and multi-family industries throughout Ventura County. Its services include sales and leasing, real estate investment consulting, property acquisition, and more. The firm is a division of Lee & Associates, a broker-owned firm with locations across Canada and the United States.

Racecars. A barn. Firefighters. While these concepts may seem like they have nothing in common, they’re all being used in a unique way to create an eye-catching, memorable design for a self-storage facility. Going beyond colored doors, attractive architecture and new construction materials, a handful of owners and developers are tapping into a central theme to create a distinct product in busy markets.

The concept might be likened by some to basic branding, but it’s more complex. While some operators keep it modest—think a surf theme at a coastal location—others are pushing their design to a whole new level. Here are three examples of themes that have propelled operators to self-storage success.

The Need for Speed in California

I-5 Self Storage in Tustin, Calif., welcomes customers with a theme that proudly celebrates the spirit of motorsports and classic cars. Owner and developer Randy Scott Wong worked in various aspects of the motorcycle industry and always had a deep love for anything on wheels. “I know that I am not alone in this passion, so I thought, why not share it? My desire was to broadly appeal and create visual interest equally for men, women and children of all ages. To do this, I drew inspiration from a wide range of motorsports influence,” says Wong, who has a background in graphic and visual arts.

Wong’s vision is evident both inside and out, from the highway-themed signage on the facility exterior, to the real carbon fiber in the front office desk, to the polished diamond plating throughout the property. Racing flags are displayed above customer workstations, and a checkered-flag pattern on the asphalt marks the facility’s entrance.

“Customers will always remember a visit to I-5 Self Storage. The strategic use of colors and names helps serve functional purposes, such as helping them easily locate their storage units, as well as emotional triggers when they see the care and enthusiasm that permeates all aspects of our unique, award-winning facility,” Wong says. “Equally important, our friendly staff enjoys embracing the theme and understands how much our customers care about their belongings, their vehicles and the overall storage experience.”

Barn Raising in the Midwest

The barn-style front office found at several Moove In Self Storage facilities has become a literal representation of the operator’s unique brand in the Midwest. Founded in 1997 by The Gilliland Family, the company chose its theme and name based on its history of raising registered Holstein cows. Although the Gillilands exited the cow-raising industry in the 1980s, the theme seemed an obvious choice when they built their first self-storage facility in 1997 in the village of Bald Eagle near Tyrone, Pa.

Today, Moove In has 17 facilities in Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as one under development. Many of the properties feature the barn-style office, complete with cow weather vanes. The interior incorporates steel sheeting for the counters, barn lights and various décor with “cow spots.” Even the company’s moving trucks carry the animal-inspired theme.

“We love to use the cow theme in all our branding and marketing. It reminds all our staff of our farming heritage—where the core values of hard work, trustworthiness, treating people right and providing a great product at a great value comes naturally,” the company website states.

Blazing a Trail in Colorado

When Barbi and Christopher Burton set out to rebrand their self-storage facility several years ago, they hit upon a design idea that would not only help the property stand out in the competitive Loveland, Colo., market but also become a catalyst for their community involvement. Firehouse Self Storage was born after the couple learned the Larimer County Search and Rescue (LCSAR) team was in desperate need of cash. Rather than just becoming a dedicated donor, the couple revamped their existing site to pay homage to firefighters.

To establish the theme, they redecorated the exterior and office interior to resemble a fire station. The waiting area features firehouse-themed memorabilia, chairs made from fire hydrants, and a coffee bar fashioned from half a fire truck that even includes working tail lights. The operator also has eight working firetrucks it proudly displays during local events and parades.

“We chose our theme as a new type of branding that makes people realize that we our part of the community and giving back each day to help save the lives of others,” Barbi Burton says. “When people rent from Firehouse, they have fun the moment they walk in our doors. We always say we are ‘The Hotel of Storage,’ not the ‘Motel of Storage.’”

When it came time to expand, the firefighter theme was carried over to the new development on a 42-acre parcel in Longmont, Colo. Not only will it resemble a 1900s firehouse and convey the theme throughout, it will be nearly double the size of the existing facility, which sits on 24 acres and offers 1,500 units. The plans include parking a real fire truck inside the office and a fireman’s pole extending down from the property’s second story. “Upon arrival, it looks nothing like storage,” Barbi Burton says.

The Burtons continue to offer a percentage of revenue from every storage rental to LCSAR, a nonprofit search and rescue resource for Larimer County, Colo. Names of the 347 fallen Colorado firefighters are inscribed on a sign inside the facility, and the couple offers rental discounts to fire, military and police personnel.

“If a company goes with a theme, they should find something that they can give back to their community, a need they can help meet, and take that idea to the top,” Barbi Burton says. “Go beyond what it could be and take that to the unbelievable.”

There a lot of variables that go into the success of a self-storage facility, including location, demographics, population density, competition, facility amenities and more. But the linchpin may be the person who’s the face of the company—the store manager.

There’s a lot more to managing a storage facility than standing behind a desk and waiting for customers to enter the door. Site managers wear several hats throughout a typical workday, including accountant, maintenance person, marketing manager and even janitor. But the most important jobs they have are customer-service agent and salesperson. How they work with a prospect in person, online and on the phone can be the deciding factor in whether that person rents a unit. Here are three ways to ensure you promote rather than hinder facility success.

1. Set the Right Tone

Walk-in customers are a store’s hottest lead, so it’s imperative they get red-carpet treatment. When a customer enters a poorly managed facility, the manager stays behind the counter, often not turning away from his computer screen. He may not even acknowledge the person right away. This sets the tone for the rest of the interaction. The customer—whether he consciously recognizes it or not—has begun to form opinions about the type of business this is and the kind of service he’s likely receive.

At a thriving storage facility, the manager comes out from behind the counter and greets the customer before he gets 10 feet into the office. His tone is cordial and upbeat. “Good morning! Welcome to [storage company name]. I’m John. What can I help you with?” This is a positive introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the conversation.

Studies show that customers who are greeted with a smile are more likely to buy. In the best-seller, “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy,” author Martin Lindstrom discusses “The Smiling Study,” conducted by researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics. It revealed how a smiling person leads to more sales by evoking more joy in the customer. It showed volunteers would be more likely to patronize the company where they received an initial smiling face.

Also, dress makes a difference. A marketing study by Julie Baker, Dhruv Grewal and A. Parasuraman showed that social factors including the way a salesperson is dressed influence a store’s image and service-quality perception. Store managers who wear a dress or polo shirt with the company logo along with business-casual pants and shoes create an image of stability in the mind of the consumer. Conversely, those who wear hoodies or sweats are basically saying they don’t care about their facility image or the customer’s needs.

2. Build a Relationship

Once you’ve greeted the customer, initiate a conversation to learn about his requirements. Instead of asking which unit size he needs, which assumes he knows what will fit in a 5-by-10 or other size, say something like, “Tell me a little about what you’re storing.” Then you can follow up with questions based on his answers. For instance, if the customer’s list of items includes a couch, a good follow-up would be to ask how long it is. This way, you can explain how he’ll be able to save space by standing the couch on end.

Another good question is, “Have you started packing yet?” This allows you to get into the subject of packing supplies, which can lead to ancillary sales. You might also ask how often the customer plans to visit his unit. If it’s often, you can offer advice on making access rows or how to maximize the space.

After figuring out the customer’s needs, offer him a tour of the unit type he’s considering. If possible, show him the exact unit he’ll rent. This will allow him to envision his belongings in that space.

Along the way, take him to the loading and unloading area and discuss how he’ll bring his possessions into the facility. A good question to ask is, “Are you moving everything yourself, or are you renting a moving truck?” This can be an opportunity to discuss the possibility of renting one of your trucks, if you offer them.

The goal is to keep learning more about your customers. The more you know about their situation, the better you’ll be able to anticipate other questions and issues that may arise. It also shows you’re thinking about their needs. Then, when you get to the point of closing the sale, you’ve developed a relationship with this person.

3. Point Out the Positives

Some managers tend bring up negatives without even knowing it. For instance, they may make offhand comments about the finicky keypad, the slow gate or the long walk to the unit. While these comments are said to make conversation with the customer, they build up an undesirable facility impression in that person’s mind.

Instead, turn any negatives into positives. For example, one manager I know had a non-passenger freight elevator that was exceptionally slow. When he showed it to his customers, he promoted the fact that the elevator was large and they would be able to get most if not all their belongings onto it, which would make their move much easier.

It’s also important to point out the amenities your store offers, especially when you know the facility down the block doesn’t have them. For instance, if your site offers climate-controlled units, promote them.

At the end of the day, gleaming buildings, beautiful signage and fancy websites only gain the customer’s interest. It’s up to the self-storage manager to show prospective tenants why your facility is the one in which they should store their precious belongings.

Derek Hines is an Internet-marketing assistant for West Coast Self-Storage, a self-storage acquisitions, development and management company with facilities in California, Oregon and Washington. He writes extensively on all subjects related to self-storage. For more information, visit www.westcoastselfstorage.com.

A newly formed limited-liability company sponsored by California-based self-storage operator SuperStorage has acquired A-1 Sierra Storage in Santa Clarita, Calif., for $2 million. The single-story asset at 17175 Sierra Highway in the Canyon Country area comprises 37,000 square feet in approximately 400 units, which were mostly converted from storage containers, according to a press release from Bancap Self Storage Group Inc., the commercial real estate firm that brokered the deal.

The asset had operated as a family-owned business since 1982 and was sold by three siblings who inherited the facility from their father, the original developer. The facility has gravel driveways, a manual sign-in sheet, a manually controlled access gate and no computers. Though it sits on about 6 acres, less than half the parcel is usable for storage due to mountain terrain and a flood channel, the release stated. Subsequent zoning changes have classified the business as a legal non-conforming use. Previous attempts to sell it were unsuccessful.

SuperStorage will brand the property under its name. The operator intends to make improvements to marketing and operations to increase the facility’s cash flow and value, according to the release.

“This was one of those deals that everyone says they want, but few are ever able to actually buy—especially in Southern California,” said Bancap president Dean Keller, who brokered the transaction. “With a strong Los Angeles County market location, no professional management, no computerized operations and significant upside potential, I expect the buyer to do very well with this property.”

California-based Bancap has completed more than $1.35 billion in self-storage sales, including independently owned properties, mid-sized chains and large portfolios.

SuperStorage operates 10 California self-storage facilities primarily in Southern California and along the Central Coast.

Merit Hill Capital LP, an investment firm launched late last year to pursue self-storage acquisitions and development opportunities, is under contract to purchase two properties, with a third in its pipeline. The company is bolstered by $300 million in equity from a private investment firm, according to a description on its LinkedIn page.

Launched by CEO Liz Raun Schlesinger, Merit Hill intends to pursue single-property and small-portfolio acquisitions in markets with at least 25,000 residents and demonstrating population growth, the source reported. The company will pursue opportunities in Canada and the United States, targeting assets with the potential for investment returns through rate and occupancy increases, expansion projects, and new management, Schlesinger said.

“We’re typically not the group that’s doing the big transaction of the year,” she told the source.

Though Merit Hill plans to use real estate investment trusts (REITs) CubeSmart and Extra Space Storage Inc. for its third-party management, other property-management firms will be under consideration, according to Schlesinger, who was previously managing director in charge of self-storage investments for W. P. Carey Inc., a global net-lease REIT that owns 211 self-storage facilities in 29 states.

During her time at W. P. Carey, Schlesinger co-founded the REIT’s self-storage platform and was responsible for 76 self-storage transactions representing investments of more than $1 billion, the source reported. She formed Merit Hill with a five-member team who worked together at W. P. Carey.

The investment firm plans to build a self-storage portfolio with the intent to sell it, Schlesinger told the source. “We’re a unique group in that we’ve been in the sector for a really long time, and we have one of the best track records out there and a very strong reputation for doing what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re really excited, honestly, to all be together and doing this on our own. We’re hopeful about the opportunities in the industry, but cautious, given the amount of capital that’s flooded the industry and the operating performance relative to supply coming online.”

Merit Hill is based in Brooklyn, N.Y. The private capitalization the company received was from an investment firm with approximately $29 billion in assets under management, according to the LinkedIn description.

Update 6/2/17 – U.K. officials have filed four “wind up” petitions intended to force self-storage operator Store First into liquidation. The move is related to the SFO “storage pod” investigation and tied to investments made through Capita Oak and the Henley Retirement Benefit pension funds. Petitions were filed in court on May 31 against Store First Ltd., Store First Blackburn Ltd., Store First St. Helens Ltd. and Store First Midlands Ltd. A hearing has been set for Aug. 1 in the Manchester District Registry of the High Court of Justice.

“We can confirm that winding-up proceedings have been served on us. We have instructed our solicitors and intend to defend these proceedings vigorously,” Ruth Almond, a spokesperson for Store First parent company Group First, told the source. “Given that High Court proceedings are now in progress, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage, pending our formal response to the proceedings. We are advised that the proceedings could take many months.”

At issue is the Store First business model, which sells individual or multiple units to investors. A marketing video released by the company in 2014 claims the operator “has much lower overheads because units are owned by investors” and promises an 8 percent return for two years.

Ruth told the source the company continues to “believe firmly in our business model, and that is why over the years we have worked in an open and transparent manner with the regulators explaining how our business operates. Indeed, we cooperated fully with the secretary of state’s inquiry and had understood it to have concluded, and [we] were therefore surprised to have received proceedings at this point. We will provide a further update as to our position as soon as we are able.”

The Insolvency Service concluded a pension-fraud investigation into Store First in 2015, but the SFO didn’t take action against the company until last month. The company was accused of luring £100 million in investment through sales company Jackson Francis Ltd., which was forced into liquidation in September 2014.

At least 70 investors transferred 100 percent of their pension investments to Store First through the Capita Oak and Henley funds, according to Angie Brooks, founder of Pension Life, an organization that works on behalf of pension-fraud victims. Investors were allegedly promised returns higher than 8 percent after two years and told that Store First “would buy the pods back for the same price as was originally paid after five years,” she told the source. “They were also promised loans of between 5 and 20 percent, and were told they would never have to pay them back and that there would be no tax to pay.”

Investors became suspicious when Capita Oak and Henley failed to return phone-call and e-mail inquiries about their investments, according to Brooks. “Nobody really knows whether there will ever be any value in the pods, or whether it would be better to demolish them and sell the buildings as normal commercial property,” she told the source. “The victims unanimously wish the authorities had taken action considerably earlier.”

Headquartered in Padiham, England, Store First has 15 self-storage facilities in England, mostly in the northwest region, and one in Scotland. The company’s model blends traditional self-storage units with full business amenities for small enterprises, including use of P.O. boxes, free WiFi and private meeting rooms. Site amenities include office facilities, breakout areas, packaging and shipping services, complimentary moving services, and reception areas. Security includes closed-circuit television, coded electric gates and perimeter fencing.

Group First is a U.K.-based real estate developer. It’s property portfolio includes residential, business, self-storage and vehicle-storage assets.

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5/23/17 – The U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is working with Spanish officials on an investigation into several pension funds that may have bilked more than £120 million of investors’ money in self-storage schemes. Capita Oak Pension, the Henley Retirement Benefit, Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund and the Westminster Pension Scheme are all under investigation for allegedly promoting bad “storage pod” investments, according to sources.

The alleged schemes positioned the investments as a way to generate high returns by buying long leases on storage containers or units and then sub-leasing them, a source reported. The SFO believes more than 1,000 investors, many of them retirees, are affected. Authorities have advised anyone who made investments into any of the named funds between 2011 and 2017 to contact officials.

The joint investigation is known as Project Bloom, which was created specifically to identify investment fraud after reforms provided pensioners with more control over their investments. In addition to the SFO, it involves the National Crime Agency and the Pensions Regulator in the United Kingdom as well as authorities in Spain, according to a source.

The suspected funds often targeted expat investors in Europe and other regions, a source reported. Capita Oak and the Henley Retirement Scheme were closed two years ago under suspicion of taking in £19.4 million in fraudulent investments.

A legal complaint has already been filed against Henley for ignoring transfer requests to pull investments from the storage scheme, according to a source.

Last August, the U.K. Insolvency Service shut down five “pension liberation companies” for fraudulently taking £128 million from pensioners. The bulk of the investments were in self-storage and came through benefit transfers from Self-Invested Personal Pensions, a government-approved program that enables individuals to have control over their investments, a source reported.

Earlier this year, Keith Popplewell, former managing director of investment-advisory firm The Pensions Office Ltd., was banned from running any company for nine years after his business advised more than 300 clients to place £12 million in unregulated investments, including overseas property and self-storage units, according to a source.