Posts filed under 'Community Relations'
Ouch. The author of “Sorting It Out: One Disorganized Woman Solves the Problem of Too Much Stuff” just blasted self-storage. She writes:
“Renting storage space is generally one of the most useless expenses anyone can add to the household budget. I’m hard-pressed to come up with a legitimate reason for it, except for those rare instances when the rental facility is truly a temporary or seasonal solution to a storage problem.
“Temporary does not mean forever; that would be permanent. So, if you have stored something for longer than a year (a very generous length of time), it is probably no longer a temporary arrangement. If you haven’t accessed what you have in storage during that year, unless you were off having a fine old time touring the continent (or facing the challenge of serving our country abroad), it’s pretty safe to conclude that you don’t need what you’ve stored. That means it’s time to unload the burdens of the storage unit and all of its unnecessary contents.”
Good grief. Not someone we want evangelizing for the industry, is it? This is the kind of information that needs to be combated with information to the contrary. This author goes on and on and on about self-storage’s origins — all in the name of promoting her book.
See, if you buy her book, she figures, you won’t need self-storage because you’ll be organized. What she fails to acknowledge is that there’s many other reasons people use self-storage, among other key points.
What do you think? Is she accurate in her description of “selfish storage?” Or shouldn’t we do some education to the contrary here?
Her blog comments have plenty of supporters. What say you?
Read her blog here.
June 29th, 2007
BullsEye Storage is developing its sixth Houston facility. The climate-controlled building and surrounding fenced and paved areas will feature the latest security and door lock systems on the market today. Construction is underway on the new structure, which will contain 660 rental spaces.The new site, previously occupied by Houston Antiques, is situated at 3200 West Dallas just west of Waugh Drive at the Rosine Street intersection - bordering primarily residential neighborhoods. This new BullsEye facility will be the first new River Oaks-Montrose area self-storage development in more than a decade.
BullsEye has a good opportunity to hit the bullseye with this project by focusing on community relations. Any business located in the inner city has a responsibility to address the needs of its citizens, which are typically lower on the economic sliding scale. Since a self-storage facility won’t produce a lot of jobs, BullsEye needs to engage in a campaign that shows the community it cares.
How would you do that? It takes a combination of sincerity and creativity to support the needs of the inner city. But it’s vital as entrepreneurs are rising up from economically depressed inner cities to open franchises and other businesses. BullsEye is charged with being a good neighbor — and letting people know about it.
May 15th, 2007
Lancaster Online reports on a proposed storage facility just south of Lititz that is drawing criticism from nearby residents. Residents are calling it a “monster-sized steel box” out of character for the area.
A York-based firm is planning to build the four-story, 675-unit self-storage warehouse.
The land is zoned for commercial purposes. But one neighbor, Troy Knepp, claims the storage facility “is not in keeping with the charm of Kissel Hill and Lititz” and, if built, would be an unwelcome gateway to the picturesque, tourist-friendly town.
This is a common accusation against self-storage, but it’s also an uneducated one. State-of-the-art storage facilities are helping to change that perception, but there’s still tremendous consumer educaton to be done so that developers don’t have to keep running into this wall. It behooves the industry to continue forging relationships in the communities in which they plan to develop and arm themselves with images and success stories of our next-generation facilities.
Click here to read the rest of this story on Lancaster Online.
April 11th, 2007
It’s stories like this one you hate to see:
“Concerned that too few properties are left for professional office or light industrial development, the Simi Valley City Council slapped an urgency moratorium on self-storage facilities applications,” reported the Ventura County Star, a California newspaper.
The decision echoes the council’s goal of balancing the housing-to-jobs ratio, and self-storage takes up a lot of usable land but employs few, the paper reported. The conclusion: self-storage is overbuilt in the area.
The council is expected to revisit the issue before the 45-day moratorium ends. The temporary ban could be extended up to two years.
Stories like this cry for developers to use smart site selection strategies so that cities don’t put the “overbuilt” stamp on the next project. Stories like this also cry for community relations. If self-storage was viewed as an asset rather than a hindrance, the city may have a different attitude.
There’s no getting around the fact that self-storage doesn’t create as many jobs as some other business types, but being a good corporate citizen can pay dividends. We all have a responsibility to do our part toward keeping a positive image for self-storage.
Click here to read the original newspaper story.
January 15th, 2007
Hundreds of Orange County residents will be a little warmer this winter thanks to winter coats collected by Guardian Self Storage and distributed through Orange County United Way.
Those words are worth their weight in gold for Guardian Self Storage. The community now views the facility as kindhearted, proactive and otherwise good corporate citizens. But this strategy will work any time of year — not just the holiday season. I encourage the self-storage industry to get into the community relations game. It pays off in more ways than one.
Click here to read about the positive press Guardian got from its good deed.
December 13th, 2006
Rob Ham has been trying to build his self-storage facility for the past six years. But he keeps butting heads with environmentalists who don’t want him there. This is one of those drawn out battles that’s just not good for the industry because environmentalists can shed negative light on us.
In these cases, it’s critical to have strong community and media relations to overcome any stigma environmentalists may in advertantly put on self-storage. We need to erase the perception that it’s about self-storage and make sure people know it’s about building in general, when that’s the case. A little community relations goes a long way in situations like this.
Click her to read about Ham’s six-year nightmare and how he has tried to make good with the environmentalists.
December 8th, 2006
In March 2006, Tayside Police made a public appeal for new training venues for the dog section team, and Chris Stevens, managing director of Kangaroo Self Storage, offered his company’s facility on Dundee’s East Dock Street, according to the Evening Telegraph in the U.K.
This is a brilliant community relations strategy. They got free press, they beef up their security image, and they are all around doing good. Kudos to Kangaroo Self-Storage.
Click here to read the rest of this story.
December 1st, 2006
Storage Investment Advisors, along with its marketing partners at The Streetview Group, have launched an initiative to help those in our communities who need it most this holiday season. Through the Giving Season Initiative, SIA is reaching out to friends, colleagues and clients in the self-storage industry to ask for support in in the form of donations to organizations that serve homeless residents and child abuse victims in Houston, Los Angeles and Indianapolis.
This is a brilliant strategy, but it wasn’t widely picked up in the mainstream media (perhaps because they didn’t know about it.) This is where community relations comes into play. When you do something good, the communities that benefit should know all about it.
November 23rd, 2006
Despite a promise from officials to put off building a controversial public storage facility, a group of about 60 residents protested Saturday against potential projects in the Southern California Edison industrial corridor in East Pasadena, according to the Pasadena star.
Protesters were carrying signs that read “Preserve Open Space, No New Public Storage.”
This is a public relations nightmare.
Of course, sometimes such protests can’t be avoided. But then again sometimes they can. The best thing to do is to talk with the stakeholders in the community long before they rally in protest and gain supporters for their cause that might otherwise not have cared. You need to communicate the benefits of self-storage, but you need to do it through multiple channels to multiple audiences in a language that speaks directly to them.
Public relations, community relations, government relations and media relations can do wonders to garner support for proposed facilities. It can save you many thousands of dollars as you work to get your approvals because you’ll see less resistence if you educate the interested parties with a convincing argument.
Once you get the protesters against you, you have to shift to crisis communications mode in attempts to stem the tide of negative feelings.
The moral of the story…whatever action you can take to build relationships with the community stakeholders at the onset of a project, do it…but consider all the audiences and their potential concerns — and then address them point by point.
Click here to read more about this public relations nightmare.
November 20th, 2006
U-Haul Company of California is offering 30 days of free storage to families in Southern California who need to move their belongings away from the growing fire.
“This fire has already caused tremendous damage and inflicted extreme hardship on the communities we serve,” said Area District Vice President Tony Waters. “I hope this effort will provide assistance to families that truly need a helping hand if this fire affects their areas. We will continue to help our friends and neighbors in this time of need.”
Brilliant! Uhaul is known for these types of initiative. This is one form of community relations that leaves a lasting impression. But Uhaul demonstrates an important lesson — do good and then let the world know you did it.
November 13th, 2006
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