5 Great Reasons Self Storage Is On The Rise
_07062023093928158.jpg "5 Great Reasons Self Storage Is On The Rise")
For decades “bigger is better” has been the American mindset. Bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger toys. So, it would make sense that self-storage has been on a steady rise. But things have changed in recent years that have made the self-storage industry absolutely boom. Believe it or not, it is for the exact opposite reason – downsizing – thanks to the pandemic. We know, we know, the pandemic is old news. But with it now in our rear-view mirror we can take a look at the evidence, and see if YOU recognize yourself in the story of one of the 10 million households that fit into 5 categories of people who benefit from self-storage.
1. HOME DOWNSIZING
A more recent activity we have seen that is a long-term effect of the pandemic is downsizing due to inflation. With the rising cost of, well, everything, a lot of people are moving to smaller homes or apartments to reduce their cost of living. Some are even opting for RV or van life. Many simply took advantage of the frantic housing market and sold their home at a premium, then moved into a smaller rental. All of which leave residents in need of external storage space that is secure for their valuables, safe for their more sensitive items, and a home base for their treasures if they are travelling. These smart cookies quickly realized it is much more affordable to rent a climate-controlled self-storage unit than to pay the square footage price for more living space.
2. LIFESTYLE CHANGES
It came as a surprise to absolutely no one that the pandemic drove up the divorce rate. Some attorneys saw as much as a 34% increase in divorce filings in their office. Self-storage allows for the accumulation of furniture for the new household, a place for current possessions until suitable housing can be found for all their belongings, or to keep things that are “pre-packed” so the house shows better during the sale process. Of course, a relationship split isn’t necessary for any of these things to happen, but it did happen enough to change the storage industry. Obviously, lifestyle changes can also include things like moving in to your first home, going off to college, getting married, having a baby, retiring, and other wonderful positive events that all cause the need for self-storage.
3. JOB CHANGES
We’re sure you remember, suddenly everyone was at home all of the time. Work pivoted to all remote literally overnight. It was apparent fairly early on those the original two weeks to “flatten the curve” was a pipe dream. This was the new reality, and working at the kitchen table wasn’t going to cut it, especially with all of the Zoom meetings. So, people turned to self-storage. They cleaned out bedrooms, garages, basements, or whatever section of their house they could to carve out a private work space for themselves. Then something happened – they LIKED it – a lot! And from there remote and hybrid work were born. Which leads us to our next point.
4. BUSINESS DOWNSIZING
Businesses turned on a dime during the shut-down, finding ways for their employees to continue to work outside of the company office. Buildings sat empty. Even when the all-clear was given to return to work as usual, a lot of them didn’t want to come back. Some realized they could do their job from anywhere and moved to lower cost-of-living areas. Some travelled while continuing to work remotely. Eventually companies realized it was much more economical to just let them, so they let their office leases go and moved inventory and equipment to secure climate controlled self-storage.
5. NEW SMALL BUSINESSES
With so many employees laid off or losing their jobs altogether, there was a major shift in the jobs market. The economy unexpectedly saw enormous growth in the creation of small businesses. A large portion of those were online based businesses to serve the explosion of online shopping. With these new businesses being run from their homes, climate-controlled self-storage provided the perfect base for inventory, removing the usual barrier of massive overhead. Store fronts got smaller, or websites replaced store fronts, and inventory was moved off-site and into more affordable self-storage facilities. Equipment and items were kept secure and could be safely accessed by multiple employees, all at a fraction of the cost of commercial real estate space.
Do you see yourself in any of the instances above? Are you curious if climate-controlled self-storage would be right for you? Click here to see sizes and prices at Sixty5 Self Storage. Call or come by any time to talk through your unique storage need. And if you are looking for business ideas that others use self-storage to run, check out our blog post on 6 Surprising Things You CAN Do With Your Storage Unit.