How do you think the sale of PODS will affect the mobile
self storage industry?

Arcapita CEO Atif A. Abdulmalik has said he believes that there is a considerable opportunity for development of the company. It will be interesting to watch their approach to expansion. As an international investment firm, they are likely hoping to replicate U.S. success in other countries. Already they are expanding into Canada and Australia.

What will probably not change is that the investment required to open a PODS franchise in a given market requires a substantial population to support it. Many of our customers are in medium to smaller markets where they’ve needed to develop a business model that allows them to offer mobile storage without large start up costs (i.e., customers adding portable storage to their self storage business, leveraging their existing office operations, using containers that can be stored outside without a warehouse, and subcontracting transportation as they launch the business).

The good news is that PODS has created consumer awareness for mobile storage, therefore, new entrants have less of a hurdle and can focus on providing a quality product and personal service.


— Steve Hajewski, Trachte Building Systems

How large of a service area does your mobile storage business have? Do you handle deliveries to certain sections of this service area on different days?

Our franchisees typically service a 30- to 45-mile radius. When starting out, a franchisee may service an entire metro area from one location and with one vehicle. Based on traffic patterns and other demographic trends, they may end up opening multiple storage centers in a metro area. As a result, they will service sections of a market from each location separately.

Once you get multiple vehicles, you are able to segment the market area to “divide and conquer,” sending each vehicle to service particular sections of the territory. If there is a satellite community (over 40 miles away) we may service it on a particular day, but our philosophy is to serve the customers when they need it.

— Dusty Rhodes, SMARTBOX

Given the current economy, what do you see in terms of mobile storage growth over the next 6 to 12 months?

We have 47 warehouses open and commitments for growth to at 80 locations by the end of 2008. However, the capital-intensive nature of the business and the tight capital markets will be a challenge for a number of companies. Additionally, while some players are going to be impacted by the downturn in the housing market, we believe that plenty of opportunities exist in the marketplace for the use of our containers and we plan on continuing to aggressively advertise and grow each and every one of our locations.

— Andrew M. Friedman, 1-800-Pack-Rat, LLC