With the influx of attendees to self storage auctions, some facility operators are beginning to wonder how they can capitalize on the frenzied rush they are now witnessing at these sales. The masses of storage hunters looking for the golden items hidden in storage units on the auction block have fed off popular TV shows like Spike TV’s Auction Hunters and A&E’s Storage Wars. It has brought novice bidders out of the woodwork standing alongside seasoned auction attendees with cold cash in hand and flashlights at the ready to peek inside a unit once the door is lifted. [More]

According to an article in yesterday’s MarketWatch, cautious investors may still want to steer clear of most stocks, which are liable to provide a bumpy ride for the next few years. Instead, analyst Jeff Reeves recommends several less conventional investment options, all of which, he points out, are beating the stock market right now in terms of the return an investor could get on his or her investment. Of seven alternative investment options, Reeves ranks self storage as number two -- after gold and before cash. [More]

Earlier this month, Global Self Storage, in San Bernardino County, California, sold for $4.5 million after having been foreclosed upon earlier in the year. This Monday, in another early indication of the improving economy and the rising market for self storage facilities, Strategic Storage Trust, Inc. (SSTI), bought two new self storage facilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for a combined purchase price of $5.7 million, paid in cash.

SSTI bought one property on Landings Drive, and one on Lebanon Road, in Pittsburgh. Both properties were previously owned by Sovran Acquisition Group. Together, the facilities will become part of a new self-storage brand established by SSTI in mid-November: Smart Stop Self Storage. SSTI hopes eventually to re-brand all its properties, of which there are 24 in 13 states, with the Smart Stop name. [More]