There is one thing that every new business hopes to become and that is an international success. The logic behind that desire is pretty simple too. If the idea is a hit in the United States it will be profitable. Should it become one internationally as well, those that got in on the ground floor of the international movement will do better than just make a profit.
The industry has a long way to go before it becomes even remotely close to what it is in the United States. Estimates have the total number of self storage facilities worldwide somewhere around 58,000. Close to 50,000 of them are in the United States alone leaving roughly 8,000 to take care of the rest of the world’s self storage needs.
Some companies are catching on to the phenomenon more than others. The industry has started to catch on pretty well in Canada where there are around 3,000 facilities. One would think that a country like the UK would be next in total number of facilities, but it actually only has about 800 of them. The third highest number is found in Australia (about 1,000).
The economic crisis has slowed down the progress of the industry in many European countries. Unlike the United States, where there are a lot of old facilities for those interested in breaking into the industry to renovate, European countries do not have that luxury. More often than not they are faced with the costs associated with new construction in order to break into the self storage industry.
There are many countries where the self storage industry does have an established foothold. In France, there are 133 self storage facilities that belong to the French Self Storage Association (but there are a number of independent ones that do not belong to the association). The Spanish Self Storage Association has 25 companies that run 61 self storage facilities.
It’s been slow to catch on in Ireland, but in the last year three more companies (bringing the total to 11) have joined their association, bringing the total number of facilities up to 21. Norway also has 21 self storage facilities (owned by 8 companies); the Czech Republic has just three companies in it; Finland has about 32 facilities owned by nine companies.
Self Storage is catching on in South Africa as well. Stor-Age is the largest operator in the country with 17 facilities to their name. They recently acquired another one, formerly Lotto Lotto Storae in Johnannesburg.
Sources Used:
“Stor-Age Acquires Lotto Lotto Storage in Boksburg, South Africa.” Inside Self Storage; 20 October 2011.
“Self Storage Across Europe: an Update.” Storage.Co.UK; 13 August 2011.
Size of the Industry; Self Storage Assocition United Kingdom.
2011 SSA Fact Sheet; Self Storage Association.