October 22nd, 2011 article from the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper.
“Victoria family caters to all types needing place to put their stuff”
The Adams family compares their storage business to running a pub. It’s a social world where new people and a lot of regulars are always coming through the gates.
Downsizers, fair-weather motorcyclists, military personnel, people who have been evicted – even a couple of sisters who used their locker to get out of the city to relax and read – are all part of a diverse clientele who pack in their belongings.
It’s mostly household goods, but the units are set up for just about anything, including cars.
With more than 13,000 square metres at their three Greater Victoria locations, Adams Storage is a local leader in the storage business. Customers can rent heated or unheated space, use a business centre complete with an office and computer stations, have merchandise accepted for delivery, use a courier service, rent trucks and buy moving supplies.
High-tech security and surveillance protects the units at Adams Storage Village on Adams Place in View Royal, Adams Langford Storage on Van Isle Way and Adams Uptown Storage on Tennyson Avenue. A $1-million upgrade was recently completed at the Uptown location.
The business started in 1982 and has continued growing with a steady push of baby boomers retiring and moving into smaller spaces or businesses needing extra warehouse room.
Their secret to success? “The harder you work, the luckier you get,” said Gord Adams, 66. “Service is the key.”
Gord’s wife, Pamela takes care of the financial side of the business, which also includes their sons, Jim, 41, and Scott, 37. The family is backed by seven longtime staff members.
Sizes of units vary and costs range from $50 to $350 per month. Contents of a three-bedroom house will fit in a unit costing $300 per month.
Turnover is a big part of the business, with customers changing frequently. But many are longterm stays – some up to 20 years, though it’s common to see units rented for four to six months.
The storage business has had its profile raised with television shows featuring auctions for the contents of units. Although auctions have taken place here, there have been few.
Adams family members clearly enjoy their customers. Gord remembers two elderly sisters who rented a unit at View Royal for a couple of years in the 1980s. They put two chairs, a table and a lamp in their unit and would go inside to visit and read books during the day. “They just loved coming out to the country,” he said.
Motorcycle and car enthusiasts use Adams’ storage and take their vehicles out on weekends or on sunny days.
Units are often rented to hold household items when people are buying or selling. Increasingly, sellers are staging their homes and want storage for their own possessions. Military personnel sent overseas need a place to keep their goods.
Other customers are new entrepreneurs who can’t afford to lease office space. Units hold stored Christmas gifts, collections, tradesmen’s tools and university students’ furniture.
“Basically, we are selling peace of mind,” Scott said.
The View Royal property was once the family farm, purchased by Gord’s father, William Adams, in 1947. It operated as Adams Apples and had bees, cattle, chickens, pigs and vegetables.
The family moved off the farm when Gord was a teen and the land was rented. His father was an entrepreneur who was in a number of professions and had three restaurants. His mother, Doris Adams, was a real estate agent.
Part of the farmland was expropriated for the nearby highway and it became difficult to reach different parcels. The bees couldn’t survive and the family decided another use would suit the site, Gord said.
He decided on the storage business after speaking with Spoony Singh, who operated a go-cart attraction in Esquimalt and had a storage business in California.
Farmer Construction built the original facility and William moved into a suite on site to help run the business while Gord sold real estate.
During the first five years, there was little money and little time to rest – but it paid off.
BOOMING INDUSTRY
The storage business took off in North America after a building boom that started in 2001 and the continual downsizing by baby boomers moving into smaller spaces. Ian Burnstein, co-founder and president of the U.S.-based Storage Business Owners Alliance, which also has members in Canada, said there are about 3,000 storage facilities in Canada with between 8.36 million to 9.76 million square metres. About 75 per cent of business comes from residential customers, with 25 per cent from corporate clients, said Burnstein, co-founder and CEO of Storage Pros Management LLC. He believes there is room for growth in Canada. – Times Colonist