When it comes to the holiday season many people are looking to find some more room, preferably in their stomachs for more Christmas goodies and not some place to store the things that are cluttering up their home. People are typically busy spending money on gifts for their loved ones; self storage is one of the last things on people’s to-do list during the holiday season.
However, that does not mean that it can’t be a profitable month for a self storage facility. With a little bit of creativity, the holiday season can still be a profitable one.
For example, the people at Guardian Self Storage in Pittsburgh figured out a way to make every parent aware of their facility. They dropped the ‘s’ in self, changing the name of the facility to ‘Guardian Elf Storage.’ What kid would not make sure his or her parents knew about the ‘elf’ ‘storage’ place?
To continue with the Christmas theme, the people at Guardian ‘Elf’ storage are also offering gift wrapping to tenants as well as cookies and coffee with a background of Christmas carols being played. They will even accept delivery of gifts and place them in a customer’s unit.
“…[The ‘Elf’ program] provides discounted storage rates on smaller sized units that can be used by parents to hide their gifts from their children, and we make it convenient for them,” said Frank DeFazio, Jr.,Guardian’s director of marketing.
Elmwood Self Storage and Wine Cellar in Louisiana is getting in the sprit in a similar fashion by offering people the use of a gift wrapping station which they have set up in one of their empty storage units. For approximately $200 the company has endeared themselves to the community by offering a valuable service while bringing in a lot of people who might not have checked out the facility otherwise.
An even bigger way that the holiday season allows self storage facilities to get their name out more is through toy and food drives. Many self storage facilities across the nation get involved with the U.S. Marines and their Toys for Tots program as drop off sites for donations. Most of the time the facility ends up donating a storage unit or two to keep all the donating toys until it comes time to deliver them (which some also help with).
It is a great opportunity to do something worthwhile. It just also happens to be a great way for people throughout the community to hear about certain storage facilities.
“…It’s a powerful human interest story that will generate a great deal of local media attention and awareness for our brand,” said DeFazio of Guardian ‘Elf’ Storage. His company is also involved with Toys for Tots and will have an open house for underprivileged families to pick toys for their children.
Sources Used:
"Elf Storage, Community Parades, and Other Happy Holiday Ideas." Self Storage Global News. December 2010.
Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
"More Self Storage Facilities Announce Involvement with Toys for Tots." Extraspace.com. November 24, 2010.