Real estate investment trust Public Storage, a member of the S&P 500 and the Forbes Global 2000, announced several changes to its management staff this week.

John E. Graul, president of self-storage operations, will retire as of Dec. 31, 2008, after four years with the company.

Beginning May 1, 2008, John M. Sambuco and David D. Young will jointly run the company’s U.S. operations. Sambuco is chief operating officer of Shurgard Europe and will be returning to the United States in June. He has been with Public Storage for more than 16 years. Young is a divisional manager in the Southeast and has been with the company for more than five years.

Peter G. Panos, divisional manager for the Midwest, will move to Europe to become the COO reporting to Steven De Tollenaere, CEO of Shurgard Europe. Panos has been with Public Storage for nine years, starting as head of the retail operations and then moving to Chicago, where he has been a divisional officer for the past seven years.

Glendale, Calif.-based Public Storage primarily acquires, develops, owns and operates self-storage facilities. It has properties in 38 states and seven European countries. For more information, visit www.publicstorage.com.