Heard About “Valet” Self-Storage Facilities?
Who doesn’t like really great service?
Like how do you feel when you drive up to a restaurant and are greeted by a valet? It’s a pretty good feeling when you hand over your keys. You know that a restaurant with a valet is going to provide a higher level of service.
The same is true of the newest trend in self-storage… the valet facility. (This is also known as “on-demand” storage.)
According to the Self Storage Association, the valet style of facility offers more convenience for a higher price, because you don’t have to go to the facility; the facility sends the storage container or even a truck and movers to your house!
How cool is that?
It’s also quite profitable.
Some really interesting companies have sprung up in the past couple of years as a result. One such company is Clutter, a Los Angeles-based company, which you might have heard about online or in your car (if you’re a talk radio fan). Their commercials are everywhere.
But this isn’t the only company in town that offers valet and on-demand storage services. Not by a long shot. We did some digging and found a short list of other such valet self-storage companies… and guess what? This is a global movement in self-storage.
Check the list out now:
- Livable.com launched with an app-based service in Seattle, also in November 2013. It expanded its warehouse space and service area to more Washington cities in early 2014.
- In April 2014, Boxbee Simple Urban Storage(http://licensing.boxbee.com) announced it had raised $2.3 million in seed-round funding. The app-based startup said it was going to use the money to scale its business domestically and expand its full-time staff from 13 to 30 employees. Its service area includes New York City and San Francisco.
- MakeSpace.comannounced that it raised $8 million in venture capital in May 2014, after having received $2.1 million in seed capital in December 2013. The company specializes in storage services in New York City but claims to allow customers anywhere in the world to store and ship their belongings.
- Spaceways.co.uk launched in London in July 2013 and expanded its services to Paris just last month. The company is backed by Rocket Internet, a Germany-based venture-capital firm specializing in e-commerce and business startups.
Other new companies to emerge in the past two years include ClosetBox (Denver), Cubiq (Boston), Fetch (Boston), Remote Garage (San Antonio) and Vaulted (Ann Arbor, Mich.). There are others springing up all the time. This is a definite trend to keep your eye on!
We aren’t telling you this to get you worried that traditional self-storage facilities are going by the wayside. On the contrary! We just posted an article about all the many reasons it makes sense to invest in self storage.
CLICK HERE TO READ IT NOW.
Truth is that self-storage facilities are here to stay.
The information about valet self-storage is to show you how you facility might benefit by adding on-demand and done-for-you services. If not valet services, what can you offer your renters that will benefit them and will create extra cashflow month after month for you?
Believe us when we say there are LOTS of ways to do that.
Want to learn more? Check this out…
