A Look at How Self Storage Has Changed Over Time: The Rise of Drive-Up Storage

The modern world is full of technological advances, and the storage industry is no exception. Over the past few decades, self storage has evolved to meet the needs of businesses and households. As more people seek convenience and easy access to their belongings, Instore Storage offers drive-up storage units.

Drive-up storage units offer an easy and secure way to store items that may not fit inside an ordinary apartment or home. The units are easily accessible, as they are located and can be quickly accessed by simply driving up and unloading your items. With added convenience and security, drive-up storage units are becoming increasingly popular for those needing extra storage space or storing their belongings in a safe and secure environment.

Contents

• Traditional Self Storage in the UK 

• Drive-Up Storage and Evolving Storage Industry

• The Advantages of a Drive-Up Self Storage Unit

• The Impact of Drive-Up Business Storage 

• Organise Your Home with Drive-Up Storage

• Instore Storage – Innovative Self Storage Solutions 

Traditional Self Storage in the UK

The concept of self storage in the UK begins in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A plucky set of entrepreneurs began renting out lock-up-and-go garages for individuals and businesses needing extra storage. Self storage’s popularity grew during the 1980s as people flocked to cities. This trend was also driven by a rise in people who were downsizing their homes or frequently moving for work.

In the 1990s and 2000s, storage grew in popularity in the UK, with many new facilities popping up nearer residential areas. This gave the industry a broader demographic of customers than the typical storage user. Additionally, the sector began to diversify, and new services such as climate-controlled units, document storage, and even portable storage units became available.

Today, self storage is well-established in the UK, with many large, multi-facility operators and a wide range of options available to customers. The industry continues to evolve and adapt to changing customer needs and trends, including the move towards more sustainable and eco-friendly practices.

Moreover, the storage industry continues to look for new ways to connect with business communities and homeowners. This evolution continues to spark new ideas and practices to improve how we work and live, which is the nature of this article.

Drive-Up Storage and Evolving Storage Industry

Drive-up storage is a self storage service where customers can drive their vehicles directly to the door of their storage unit to load and unload their items. These units are typically located on the ground floor and have a form of accessible opening, such as a roller door or a convenient opening.

Drive-up self storage units offer customers the convenience of loading and unloading their items directly from their vehicle, which can be especially useful for storing larger or heavy items. Additionally, drive-up units often have wider doors and higher ceilings than indoor units, providing more space for storing items and making it easier to move things in and out.

Drive-up storage units can vary in size and may be used to store a wide range of items. This is ideal for household furniture and appliances, business inventory and equipment. Ultimately, each drive-up storage facility will give you different features. We suggest contacting us directly to discuss the dimensions and unit size options.

The Advantages of a Drive-Up Self Storage Unit

Drive-up storage units offer several advantages over traditional indoor self storage units, such as:

• Convenience: Customers can pack and unpack directly from their vehicle with a drive-up unit. This can save time and effort compared to carrying items through hallways or elevators to reach an indoor unit.
• Accessibility: Drive-up units are on the ground floor and have an appropriate doorway. This means that customers can drive their van or car to the unit for loading and unloading.
• Space and Flexibility: Drive-up units often have wider doors and higher ceilings than indoor ones. You’ll have more options if you have oversized objects.
• Climate control: Some drive-up storage units offer climate control features, protecting delicate items from extreme temperatures and humidity, and keeping them in good condition.
• Security: Drive-up storage units are as secure as indoor units, with features such as gated access, surveillance cameras, and individually locked units.

Overall, drive-up storage units offer a convenient and flexible storage option for customers who have bulky items to store or prefer driving their vehicle directly to their unit.

The Impact of Drive-Up Business Storage

Businesses can expect several positive impacts when using a drive-up self storage unit instead of a traditional storage unit:

• Increased Efficiency: Drive-up units allow businesses to load and unload their items quickly and easily, saving time and increasing productivity. This can be especially beneficial for companies that need a faster turnaround and adhere to strict deadlines.
• More Space: Drive-up units offer roomier interior space, which is handy if your enterprise works with equipment, inventory, or seasonal decorations and additional stock levels.
• Climate Control: Climate-controlled drive-up units can protect delicate items from extreme temperatures and humidity, retaining your condition. This is essential for businesses that need to store electronic equipment or inventory sensitive to temperature changes.
• Increased Security: Drive-up units can be just as secure as traditional indoor units, with features such as gated access, surveillance cameras, and individually locked units. This can give businesses peace of mind and provide added protection for their valuable inventory and equipment.
• Flexibility: Drive-up units come in various sizes, so businesses can choose a unit that matches their needs. They also can expand or downsize their storage as their needs change quickly.

Drive-up self storage units provide businesses with increased efficiency, more space, climate control, security, and flexibility, making them a great storage solution for businesses of all types and sizes. Furthermore, you won’t have the headache of a lease or inflexible rental agreement.

Organise Your Home with Drive-Up Storage

Drive-up self storage units can help homeowners organise and declutter their homes and garage by providing them with additional space to store their belongings.

Drive-up self storage gives you additional space for storing items that take up room in the home or garage. You won’t have to battle with Christmas decorations, sporting equipment, appliances and tools when you go into the garage anymore. This can free up space in the house and garage, making it easier to organise and declutter.

Homeowners to load and unload their items quickly and easily, which can save time and effort when organising and decluttering. And we have climate control features to protect delicate items from humidity or condensation, keeping them in perfect condition. This is vital if you want to store photographs or other items that may be sensitive to temperature changes.

Instore Storage does things differently. We know that using storage comes at a cost, so we want to give you the best value. That means continually seeking new ways of providing convenience for our customers. And what better way to do this than driving up and offloading directly into a self storage unit?

Instore Storage – Innovative Self Storage Solutions

The rise of drive-up storage has been a welcome addition to the self storage industry, giving hard-working people new ways to store their belongings. With drive-up storage, you can drive a car directly up to your storage unit. You can now transport and store securely without lugging your possessions around. This has been an instrumental innovation for those who have large items or need to keep multiple items simultaneously.

The self storage industry is constantly innovating and looking for ways to make storage more straightforward and secure for customers. Instore Storage has been at the forefront of this drive for excellence. We offer the latest drive-up storage units in Dorset and the surrounding areas. With our unshakable commitment to customer service and modern storage solutions, we always deliver the best possible storage options.

Instore Storage has been proud to serve the people of Dorset with the best in self storage for many years. Instore Storage is the perfect fit whether you need a drive-up unit or a more traditional storage solution. 

Click here, and we’ll go into more detail about our new drive-up storage, including a free quote.