The Box Self Storage in Dubai Leads the Booming Market

The facility opened in January, but its management team has been in business for the past two-and-a-half years operating an outsourced model. The company grew rapidly from storing a couple of boxes at a home to renting warehouse space all over the country. It made sense to consolidate the operation in one location.

Thinking Inside The Box

It was obvious that customers wanted a one-stop storage solution in a single location, but where to locate it? There were two challenges to building the company’s first facility: The first was to find a suitable site. There is a huge demand for warehouse space in Dubai, but a suitable site was found in Al Quoz Industrial Area 4 in the heart of the city.

The second challenge was to design the site to meet customer expectations. A leading Dubai contracting company designed the facility incorporating steel and wire mesh partitions.

The priorities included safety, moving convenience within the facility using lift systems, air conditioning, 24-hour access and 100 percent space optimization. The latest in fire detection and sprinkler systems was also installed.

Security is provided by 24-hour security guards on the site as well as a CCTV infrared digital system. Each customer is provided with a magnetic access card allowing 24-hour access and a log of all activity is retained in the store.

The single-story facility offers more than 15,000 square feet of climate-controlled storage. More than 150 units range from 50 square feet up to 155 square feet. Customers can request to meet with a specialist to determine how much storage space they will need.

In addition to storage, The Box also offers packing and removals, document management, inventory control, vehicle storage, inventory management, courier and local and international hauling.

The facility reached 100 percent occupancy in less than a year. Although the company’s marketing program consists of press releases in local papers and magazines, 90 percent of its customers are referrals by existing customers.

With the success of The Box, the company is planning storage locations in other major cities and the Gulf Cooperation Council including Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

Wadih Haddad is the managing partner for The Box Self Storage. He has a background in logistics and supply-chain management. For more information, visit www.theboxme.com.