Written by By Emily Forster and Sophia Foley, CNN By Stephanie Snaille, CNN
The establishment of self-storage facilities has recently been embraced by millennials, who are more likely to purchase storage units online than rent them in a mall. In 2017, Gartner predicted that the self-storage industry would grow 5.8% to 2.79 billion square feet in 2018. And the demand shows no signs of slowing down.
Here are some facts you should know:
Venture capital investments in self-storage rose 93% between 2014 and 2015, and the industry was one of the most active in 2016, with as many as 650 startups being formed and generating a total of $1.1 billion in capital.
Convenience is one of the most important reasons why millennials choose to store their items in self-storage.
Thomas Kirchhofer, founder of Visionary Self Storage, said, “Based on my experience, personal expenses and working life, having my goods stored locally with fast retrieval at my convenience always comes to the top of my list when a storage unit becomes available.”
The rate of ownership for self-storage has increased 50% in the last four years.
In November 2017, five years after starting the company, Richard Hammeken, owner of Gorman Self Storage in Adelaide, Australia, announced his decision to retire at the age of 77. Why? Because there are simply too many people looking to rent out storage space in his building.
Lioncity Group chairman Simon McManus disagrees. He said, “If I could charge for every item that goes into storage, I’d be rolling in the dough. I think there’s a lot of people that are becoming a bit anti-storage and trying to move in that direction, but I think the majority of people will appreciate that it’s a no-cost way to store stuff for a while.”
In March 2018, a survey conducted by the Warehousing Industry Association, revealed that 67% of respondents were using self-storage solutions as a short-term solution due to affordability. But 51% believed that, in five years, self-storage would be more of a long-term storage solution for them.