by John Stevens
December 15, 2011 11:01 AM
A bad economy. Bankers hesitant to lend money. An up-scale community not very pleased to have a self-storage facility as a neighbor. These could be insurmountable odds. But not for iStore Self Store who was recently awarded the 2011 Facility of the Year Overall Winner by the mini storage business. It is the newest state-of-the art and environmentally conscious self storage provider in Birmingham, Alabama. (They also serve the Irondale and Mountain Brook communities.)
The owners and developers realized that it was more cost effective to repurpose a pre-existing building rather than build a new one. Their cost and the time to create the storage facility were lower than the time and money spent for normal development and building.
They took an old grocery store that sat on three acres of land and, by remodeling and adding features, turned it into an impressive - and impressive looking - business. Their philosophy that 'quality is not that much more expensive' is evident it the interior design of the business. Their elegant lobby and front desk area fits in with the up-scale community nearby.
They increased functionality by adding more loading docks, a ramped loading dock for regular vehicles, and RV and boat parking facilities. They have over 74,000 square-feet with 588 climate-controlled units and 16 unique sizes. Since they opened in January 2011, their occupancy rate has climbed to over 50 percent.
They have on-site laptop stations and free Wi-Fi. They also have a private conference room that seats 12 and has high technology conveniences and a flat screen TV. The conference room is also available for use by the community for events such as chambers of commerce meetings, conferences, training sessions, or social events for self storage clients.
iStore is eco-conscientious. They provide cardboard and plastic recycling for customers. Their marketing material use recycled paper and soy-based inks. They use energy saving light bulbs, appliances, and have an energy saving HVAC system.
iStore Self Storage has already held charitable activities that support the community. They held a yard sale with 49 vendors participating and over 830 people in attendance. They donated the proceeds (over $5,000) to the Children's Hospital of Alabama. They also support the Greater Birmingham Humane Society and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization.
Sources Use:
"2011 Facility of the Year Overall Winner." Mini-Storage Messenger; December 2011.
iStore Self Store.