In February 2023, Shield Storage Centers opened their sixth self-storage facility in Minden, LA. What makes their new facility so unique? If you ask Kevin Seiple, Director of Operations at Shield Storage Centers, he'd say the implementation of Nokē Smart Entry. With 6 facilities in total, Shield Storage Centers has already implemented the Nokē Smart Entry system at 3 of their properties, and they have aspiring plans to integrate further.
This particular box store started out as a local grocery and was turned into a furniture store before Shield Storage Centers decided to skillfully transform it into a state-of-the-art self-storage facility in an underserved market. Ultimately, big box stores make for excellent self-storage conversions because they typically have fundamentals in place which can save you significant time and money throughout development.
When we asked Mr. Seiple what the biggest difference was between their traditionally managed facilities versus their new, smart facilities, his response was remote management and online rentals. With Cloud-based software, Shield Storage Centers has more control and visibility over their site than ever before. In fact, over half of their rentals are online, and many of those come in after hours, around 6 PM through 12 AM.
"Our operations team loves working with the smart entry system because they can see real-time data and monitor users when needed. As far as security goes, we love the thermal motion sensors inside of every unit and they've been great for preventing any type of unwanted activity."
Figure 1: Hallway of Smart Units at Shield Storage Units in Minden, LA. Featuring Nokē ONE Smart Locks
Figure 2: Shield Storage Centers Front Entrance in Minden, LA
By implementing the smart entry system at their facility, Shield Storage Centers was able to better target the Minden, LA community. With roughly 50% of their clientele being business owners, smart technology has allowed many of their customers to successfully close their brick-and-mortar stores by using smart units for storing inventory.
Some business owners are even using smart storage units to manage employee time cards! By sharing a digital key with employees, business owners, and managers can see exactly when and how often their storage units are being accessed during the customized key-sharing time period. Employers can start the time clock when an employee unlocks the unit in the morning and clock them out when they lock the unit for a final time at the end of the day. All key-sharing activity is traceable, customizable, and revocable at any time.
Does Higher Security Mean More Revenue? Yes.
Not only are Shield Storage Centers located in an underserved market, but they're the first facility in their market to adopt the smart entry system. Their community is drawn to the smart facility because of its heightened security, and they're able to charge a $10 premium for smart units because of it.
The Shield Storage Centers team is also adjusting rental rates for heavy users. After all, when a tenant accesses their storage unit multiple times a day, they're putting significantly more wear and tear on the unit door and smart lock. Luckily, the smart entry system tracks all unit activity in real-time and stores that information on the Cloud-based software. This means Shield Storage Centers can easily justify and implement rental rate increases when a tenant's activity is above average.
