If you’re seeking to get ahead in a competitive self-storage market, look no further than that bottle of wine sitting on your kitchen table. People have been buying, selling and drinking vino for thousands of years. Some even collect and broker it as a valuable commodity. With billions of bottles in existence on the planet, it all has to go somewhere.
And that’s where you, as a self-storage operator, can enter the picture. Wine storage is an enticing service for collectors, restaurateurs and anyone who simply doesn’t have enough space at home. Whether you’re thinking about adding it to an existing facility or constructing an entirely new property around it, you need to be prepared with the right design, infrastructure and high-end customer service for this specialty market.
Savvy self-storage operators are always looking for ancillary services to offer. From truck rentals to boat/RV storage to onsite retail, the potential avenues vary in scope. Wine storage is one that can be very profitable but requires a fine touch.
“There are various benefits to offering wine storage,” says Brian Cohen, president and CEO of Andover Properties, which operates the Storage King USA brand. “The service provides for a greater connection with the community, a higher price per square foot and can be tailored to attract upscale tenants.”
Offering wine storage is more than simply extending a new offering to your existing and potential tenants; it can allow you to tap into an entirely new customer base. “We try to focus on key market drivers—restaurants, distributors, high-end clubs and wine stores among them,” Cohen adds.
If your occupancy rates are stagnant or declining, it may feel as if you’ve run out of possibilities for new tenants in your market, but wine-storage users are an exciting new possibility. These customers tend to be affluent, and much like that bottle of pinot noir at your local wine shop that’s been aged for 20 years, they tend to stick around for a while.
Wine-storage customers are typically looking for long-term storage, notes Tyler Crews, director of estimating for Janus International, a manufacturer and supplier of building solutions including wine-storage lockers. They’re also comfortable paying a higher price to store their precious bottles. Depending on the size of the units and amenities offered, the revenue potential can be greater than that of traditional self-storage. In addition, you can offer smaller lockers, which means a greater price per square foot.
“You bring a different type of client into storage and a different rent rate,” Crews says.
The benefits of wine storage are robust, however, you aren’t guaranteed to make money with it in a self-storage environment. There are important steps you must take to make this revenue stream a steady one.
First, you need to know your market and how to promote the service to potential tenants. For Rose City Self-Storage & Wine Vaults in Portland, Oregon, niche marketing begins with the name. By adding the word “wine” to all branding and featuring it prominently on the website, customers who need wine storage are more likely to find the business, says Jake Waters, assistant manager.
The facility also attracts attention based on the fact that it operates in a 1920s era building that’s registered as a historic landmark within the city. It’s been featured in publications including “Oregon Wine Press,” “Portland Monthly” and “Willamette Week.” All that great publicity has no doubt translated into a healthy customer base.
Waters is personally proud of the facility’s underground storage space, which is great for wine and gives tenants access to conditions they may not have at home. “If you live in a high-rise apartment downtown, you can’t have a basement,” he says. “I believe our wine storage is at least 75% capacity right now.”
Another thing that can boost your operation is expertise. It helps if you and your staff know something about the goods you’re storing. “Knowledge of wine helps connect with our clientele here,” Waters says. However, he finds that it’s more useful to focus on the importance of climate control than to know the difference between a Cabernet Franc and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
There are practical and aesthetic considerations involved in designing a wine-storage space. The first logistical choice you’ll need to make is what size units to build. Think about the number of bottles or cases each should hold. Small lockers that accommodate just a few cases are perfect for private collectors, while large units that can hold up to 160 cases are ideal for wine clubs or restaurants.
Temperature and humidity control are imperative in a wine-storage environment. The space must be well-insulated to discourage air flow and offer an ideal temperature of 55 degrees, with relative humidity of 60% to 70%. Also, you must limit the possibility of vibration in the room, as it can potentially shift wine corks and disturb the contents.
A vapor barrier will be critical, according to David Baca, principal at Baca Architecture, which specializes in storage design. Your wine-storage room will be cooler than the rest of your self-storage space, which means you’ll have some walls that are cool on the wine-storage side but warm on the other. If you don’t install a vapor barrier, the wall on the warm side could sweat, leading to issues like mold and mildew, he explains.
In addition to these practicalities, you’ll need to consider aesthetics. Your wine-storage clientele will expect an attractive space. Many facility operators add wine-themed art, murals and décor, for example. Overall, the design tends to be pretty posh.
When Baca worked on Frisco Wine Storage in Frisco, Texas, the firm went out of its way to find lockers that were functional yet stunning. “They’re metal systems, but they have a vinyl over the top of it that gives it a wood look,” he says. “And the one that we used specifically on this project was called the French Oak collection. Now for the ceiling, we just went dark, so it gave a moody feel to the space.”
Frisco’s wine-storage area also includes a tasting room for tenants who might want to pull bottles from their collection and drink them on site. “In that room, we had textured walls, darker, muted colors, and then some decorative light fixtures,” Baca says. “We also had a table in the middle of the room and some chairs. Someone may bring some of their friends over to look at their wine collection and maybe even experience some of that wine.”
Finally, security is critical in wine storage. Bottles can be extremely expensive, and your customers will want peace of mind. Consider dedicated access control for this area as well as additional video cameras.
Amenities can also be key for drawing and retaining wine-storage clients. For example, in addition to creating a tasting room for customers, you might consider selling wine-related products in your self-storage retail store, such as bottle openers, glasses and decanters.
An especially sought-after service in this age of wine clubs and online retail is package acceptance. “The benefit is people can order wine online or through a club, and we sign for the wine, put it in their unit and let them know,” says Cheryl Pickard, assistant manager for Frisco, which also prioritizes customer convenience when setting access hours.
“They have access to their unit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Pickard says. “So, they can come and go as they want and get whatever they want. They don't have to go through a front desk or anything like that. It's just like a home away from home.”
If you’re ready to offer wine storage at your self-storage facility or add it to a new development, you can set yourself up for success by first conducting proper market research to ensure you have a potential customer base. Next, design a space that’s well-insulated, stable and attractive, with strict temperature and humidity controls. Offering key amenities and maintaining high standards of cleanliness and customer service will also please these tenants. Plus, it’ll improve your reputation among other clientele.
“It’s fancy here,” Water says. But when it comes to making tenants happy, “It’s not any different than any other storage rentals.”
Kate Ramsey is a Las Vegas-based freelance writer who covers technology, business and hospitality.
Kate Ramsey
Freelance Writer
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