Calgary self-storage companies thrive with new twists on traditional business model

The self-storage business is booming across Canada, and some Calgary entrepreneurs are reimaginingthe traditional approach to stockpiling customers' stuff.

In the midst of Calgary's recession in 2016, Nancy JarjourSzabo visited a storage facility and saw a dusty, dark hallway filled with lockers and saw an opportunity.

Three days later, she was working on starting her own business.

Now, she's the president and owner of CityBox Storage, a 23,000-sq.-ft., 230 unit facility.

"Particularly as a woman, I wanted to feel safe at a facility," Szabo said.

At CityBox, the floors are clean enough to eat off of, the lights stay on all the time, the bathrooms are spotless and the lobby is home to a coffee nook where people can take a break, charge their phones and use the WiFi.

"It's a home away from home for your belongings."

Szabo said her customers are diverse, and rent lockers for different situations, from commercial to personal.

"For as many units as I have in here, there are that many reasons why people store," she said.

She gave the example of one customer who stores his kayak at the warehouse. He'll often pick it up first thing in the morning, head out to the mountains and drop it off again in the evening.

Customer Dominic Blanchetis the owner of a small furniture business and rents a unit.

"I didn't want to take on a lease and be committed to the requirements that a lease would entail, I just started my business three-and-a-half years ago," he said. "I've currently got other warehousing solutions, but I keep this one because it provides me the flexibility."

Another local company, YYCStorage, has turned storage into more of a full-service experience.

The company offers same-day pickup and delivery of items. All your stuffislisted in an online inventory, so returns can be scheduled at any time.

Torey Celinskis, the company's co-founder, said YYCStorage initially only accepted small items, but once they started accepting furniture in February business has exploded.

"From what we've seen year over year, the storage business is getting way busier. We've actually decreased our marketing efforts a little bit because it's normally pretty slow in December, January, February, but it's been a little busier and we were growing over the winter," Celinskis said.

"The biggest thing is how diverse the customer base is. Our customers range from 18 to 70, and they pretty much live in condos or out in Cranston."

Celinskis said people downsizing to smaller homes, doing renovations or moving elsewhere for work have driven much of the business.

Roughly five per cent of Canada's population uses self-storage facilities, he estimated, adding that in the U.S. that number is roughly doubled, but demand in Canada is growing.

YYC Storage is preparing for a busy summer when more people move homes, and others store seasonal items and plans to expand to another facility soon.

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