Transforming Urban Spaces Into Profitable Storage Facilities w/ Peter Smyth from White Label Storage

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Self Storage Lab

swivl

36 episodes

3 days ago

Join us for our brand new show, The Self Storage Lab–a new podcast deconstructing how operators are adapting to today’s technology-driven landscape and how it might impact your business. In the age of hyper-informed, store-anywhere customers, your business needs to be always on, data-driven, and customer-centered. Whether you’re a thousand location operator or looking to get into self storage with your first property, nerd out with us as we help you decide what’s best for your business. tryswivl.com tryswivl.com/blueprint

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Transforming Urban Spaces Into Profitable Storage Facilities w/ Peter Smyth from White Label Storage

Self Storage Lab

57 minutes 31 seconds

6 months ago

Transforming Urban Spaces Into Profitable Storage Facilities w/ Peter Smyth from White Label Storage

Company Overview & Background

Founded by Peter and Alex (met at Harvard Business School)
Started as Local Locker in NYC - urban storage platform focused on unused spaces
Evolved into White Label Storage - third-party management service
Alex just had second boy (now 5 kids between the two founders)
Currently operate 30 stores under management platform
50+ stores in pipeline
Growth from 15 to 30 stores in past year

Business Model Evolution

Local Locker: B2C model focused on urban storage

White Label Storage: B2B management service

Operational Philosophy

Client-first approach at every level
Built own website to reduce client costs ($500/month industry standard)
Focus on stripping out unnecessary costs
Improved onboarding process based on Rippling’s milestone approach

Emphasizes building partnerships vs being fee provider

Treats single-asset owners’ properties as retirement plans

Technology & Innovation

Recently launched streamlined payment collection system
Developing proprietary revenue management tool (Q3 launch target)

Team Structure & Management

30 total employees
~20 in operations (split between facility level and customer service)
Separate sales/marketing and local teams
Implemented specialized roles to reduce “cognitive burden”

Market Outlook & Industry Trends

* Seeing demand normalization post-COVID correction

Extra Space potentially returning to smaller markets
Major challenge: “slash rate” promos creating pricing confusion
Focus on maintaining steady rates vs chasing promotional pricing
Under-investment in assets remains common industry problem
Expects institutional buyers to return to remote markets