Posts Tagged ‘About ABC Selfstore’
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
It’s an out-and-out ABC Selfstore shout-about this week.
We know it’s not what we normally do with our blog – but we’re excited about some great news for customers at all three of our self storage centres – in Wandsworth, Southwark and Camden.
We’re constantly looking at ways to give better value to our customers. Our Price Promise and only pay for the days you stay guarantee already mean that we can’t be beaten on price. We also go the extra mile to give our customers friendly helpful service that’s second to none (to see how we walk-the-walk have a look at what our customers say).
When customers are happy it would be easy to be complacent - but if you know us you’ll know that’s not our style. So we asked the people who store with us what we might do to improve our offer.
The result is that we’ve extended our opening hours at weekends.
You’ll now be able to access your unit from 8am until 6pm Saturdays and from 10am until 5pm Sundays. And don’t forget late night opening until 8pm on Thursdays.
Of course – is that isn’t enough – 24hr storage is available on selected units at our Wandsworth and Southwark stores.
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, business, Camden, Household self-storage, London, self storage, Southwark, storage, Wandsworth
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Monday, June 7th, 2010
So you’ve got some things that need shifting and have decided self storage is the answer – the tricky bit is getting it from A to B. It’s too valuable for the dump, too big to fit in the car and trying to haul it down the stairs on your own would just end up with a you-shaped-Banksy-esque mural impressed on the hallway wall.
Once you’ve lined up your storage and roped in a mate (or two) you’ll need to get yourself a suitable vehicle. Usually a white van. If you’re really unlucky it’ll come adorned with the traditional dashboard fayre of the previous tenants: a copy of the News of the World, the wrappings of a McMeal, a half eaten Ginsters and an empty ‘grab bag’ of Walkers cheese and onion. And a fuel needle that’s below the red.
Then you’ll have to go and pick it up, get back through the London traffic to your pad, load up, drive to your self- storage centre, drop the van back off at the van rental place and finally get back to your pad. Or to put it another way – from A to B, back to A, then to C, then back to B and then back to A again. Six trips, minimum, all through van-loving London traffic.
There’s a far easier answer though. You could just store with ABC Selfstore and we’ll throw in a 1/2 day’s Free Van Hire. You pick it up from us and leave it with us when you’ve unloaded and you’re done. And as our van offer is in conjunction with Streetvan it’ll come without those (un)savory dashboard extras. To find out all the details give your nearest store a ring.
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, advice, Household self-storage, London, space, storage
Posted in About ABC Selfstore, Business storage, Free Van Hire, Household storage, Self Storage Lifestyle, Self Storage News, Van HIre | Comments Off
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
It’s a tricky thing to plan business development when there’s so much uncertainty about what – economically speaking – is likely to happen next. So it’s understandable that most of us don’t want to take any undue risks. As the much talked about green shoots of recovery start to sprout you might be looking at ways to expand your business – but how do you keep expansion risk-free with the added uncertainty of a volatile economic climate? Especially when part of that expansion is likely to be limited by the cost of the physical space you need to operate your business.
Priya Cinar, Store Manager at ABC Selfstore Camden in York Way explains, “We’re seeing more and more business customers looking for flexibility in the way they use physical space. Some want to be in a position where they can plan stock storage around demand, others to be ready to react – either way – to uncertain economic conditions. Flexibility is the key and being tied into a long-term lease doesn’t really allow that. Our business customers like the fact that they can rent the storage space they need by the day, without being tied into lengthy contracts.”
So if you’re about to take delivery of your summer colections, need to move clutter out of the office to make room for new staff or just need more storage space – self storage is well worth considering.
And if you’re new to it ABC Selfstore’s website – www.abcselfstore.co.uk/flexible – has a handy ‘Self storage for beginners’ guide.
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, business, economics, green shoots of recovery, rooms, storage, units
Posted in Business storage, Self Storage News, hints and tips | Comments Off
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
In the third of our series of hints and tips on self storage we look at the steps you should take to avoid injury when moving your things in and out of your unit…
Self storing almost always involves lifting, pushing and stacking – and there’s usually some sweating, grunting and “left-a-bit…hang-on…right-a-bit” that comes with it.
If you’re moving heavy items into store then it’s worth taking some time to prepare yourself. We’re not talking about a 3 month body building course at the local gym here – just a good look at some of the guidance that’s out there on manual handling (the proper name for lifting and moving things).
There’s a lot you can do to reduce the chances of causing yourself a mischief when manual handling and they’re largely a question of good technique.
Before we get to the technique though – the best advice is to err on the side of caution. If you think moving something is beyond your limits – it probably is. So our advice is to get some help if you need it. That could be in the form of a professional moving service (and we can recommend one that shares our passion for great service and value), or it could be asking a mate or two to help you out.
Once you’ve worked out what you can and can’t manage make sure that you (and anyone else you’ve roped in) understand the basics of lifting and moving. It’s a common response these days to take the view that Health and Safety has all gone a bit overboard – but for manual handling there’s some really good advice that makes a lot of sense. It won’t stop you moving what you need to move, but it should help you do it with a greatly reduced chance of straining yourself (or worse).
That advice is from the experts – the Health and Safety executive no less. So rather than reproduce it here’s a link to their booklet ‘Getting to Grips with Manual Handling’. Pages 6 and 7 are the ones we think are most relevant.
Happy storing. You can find out more hints and tips for storing on our website in our Self-storage for beginners section on our website [link]
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, advice, building, Camden, home improvements, Household self-storage, lifestyle, London, rooms, self, self storage, Southwark, space, storage, Wandsworth
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
In the second installment of our hints and tips on getting the best from your self storage – we look at organising your unit and packaging your things.
So you’ve planned your move-in with the precision of a special forces operation. You know what’s going in which box and the order they’ll go into your unit. Great, but it’s worth giving the layout of your unit and packaging of the stuff you want to store some thought as well. There’s nothing worse than finding your back catalogue of first edition Beatles vinyl has been wrecked – because you boxed it vertically – and then stacked the last 10 years worth of subscriptions to Rolling Stone magazine on top.
Firstly – leave space for access to the rear of the unit and avoid leaning things against walls – it helps ventilation. Whilst professional storage units are warm and dry the things you are storing could need to breathe.
Secondly – protect fragile items with bubble wrap, mark the box ‘Fragile’ and avoid putting heavy items on top. You may of course get sidetracked by the therapeutic properties of bubble-wrap. This link might help you get that urge out of the way.
You can also make the most of your space by dismantling furniture where possible (you’ll fit more in). Detach legs from tables and beds to save space and wrap the legs in more of that bubble wrap to avoid damage. Likewise stacking chairs seat to seat can also help save space and putting cloth or bubble wrap in between will help protect them if they are valuable or antique. In fact, covering the lot with dust sheets is a good idea to keep them protected from scratches or bumps.
If you are storing clothes then using wardrobe boxes to keep them on hangers is a must if you want to avoid them getting mis-shaped. Stand mattresses on end and avoid stacking heavy items on soft furnishings, besides laying them down might encourage you to take a nap and you’re not allowed to sleep in your storage unit.
Of course, if you need real bubble wrap – or any packaging items for storing for that matter – you can get them from our shop in store, or from boxes to move.
Happy storing – and don’t forget you can find out more hints and tips for storing on our website in our Self-storage for beginners section on the ABC Selfstore website.
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, advice, building, Camden, home improvements, Household self-storage, lifestyle, London, rooms, self, self storage, Southwark, space, storage, Wandsworth
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
In the first of our guides offering you some handy hints and tips on making the best of your storage space – we look at moving your stuff and how to make the most of your space.
If you want to avoid having to search for a needle in a haystack, a share certificate in a ‘piling system’ or a gold bracelet in a strong box you need to plan your move in from the point you pack – at home or office.
Knowing what is in which box is the first step. Now you could number your boxes, boot up the computer and record a complete inventory - with all the precision of an international shipping company – or you could just scrawl a list of what’s inside on the side of your boxes in marker pen. Whichever technique you choose it means you’ll at least have some idea of what’s where once it is all packed into your storage unit.
It’s also well worth planning the layout of your storage unit – especially if you want to avoid that ‘I’m-going-to-be-here-all-day’ sinking feeling. Like when you realise box 4 (buried behind boxes 5 to 20) is where you put that pair of diamond earrings you had an inkling might be worth something – and you just saw them on Antiques roadshow valued at £3,000.
A simple rule – last in/first out – is worth remembering when you pack your storage unit (just to make life more complicated the opposite is true when you pack to bring your stuff to the store – first into your van or car will be last out).
It might all seem obvious – but a little time now will almost certainly save you load of re-stacking, along with a stack load of time later.
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, advice, Camden, home improvements, Household self-storage, London, rooms, self, Southwark, space, storage, Wandsworth
Posted in Household storage, Self Storage Lifestyle, hints and tips | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
So the planning application was finally approved, the builders are booked to start next Monday and you made sure you remembered the extra large box of teabags from the supermarket. If you’ve never had building work done you could be wondering what else there is to sort – aside from that big bag of sugar you forgot to go with the tea.
Well let’s talk about dust for a second. We’re not talking the kind of house dust that a handy can of Mr Pledge and a quick wipe over with a yellow duster can easily remedy. We’re talking building dust. A fine grey powder so hard to shift that in 2012 you‘ll still be drawing smiley faces and writing ‘459’ messages to your other half in it.
Now you could cover everything in dust-sheets and hope for the best – that the tradesman’s size 13’s don’t leave any boot shaped modifications. You could be planning to move it all to another room in the house – assuming you’re lucky enough to have a spare room (especially if you’re in London). Regardless of whether your furniture is more Chippendale than Ikea or the artwork hanging your walls more Athena than Michael Angelo – you might want to consider moving it all somewhere safe – like into self-storage.
If you do decide short-term storage is the solution it’s worth checking the small print. Building work has a nasty habit of overrunning – so you could find yourself needing a few extra days or even a week or two. Most self-storage companies charge by the month – so a building overrun of a week will cost you an extra month of storage – whether you need it or not. Of course – at ABC Selfstore you only pay for the days you stay.
If on the other hand you decide dustsheets are the only way forward well pop in and see us – we sell them too – and here’s a link that might help with those messages in the dust.
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, advice, building, dust, home improvements, Household self-storage, lifestyle, planning permission, rooms, self storage, space, storage
Posted in Household storage, Self Storage Lifestyle | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
It seems even our Boris has noticed the Self Storage industry. Of course – we know he’s missed the point that we also cater for businesses storing stock, archiving documents, students going home for summer, people moving house, people making improvements to their house… In fact anyone with a need for more space.
But it is still well worth a read….
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, boris Johnson, London, rooms, space, storage, the Daily Telegraph
Posted in Household storage, Self Storage Lifestyle, Self Storage News | Comments Off
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Savvy house hunters and property owners are using self storage while they wait for the market to pick up – according to the Self Storage Association UK. Pointing to evidence from their recent industry survey (carried out by Mintel) the SSA suggests people have been making the most of self storage services while they wait for the market to pick up.
Rodney Walker, CEO of SSA UK said, “The slow-down in the housing market has led consumers to turn to self storage to securely hold their items until the housing market picks up when they are able to take advantage of cheaper prices.”
The SSA also points to a second emerging trend: the use of self storage to generate income through the letting of a spare room – which it calculates could generate an UK average extra income of £4500 per year for home owners.
You can read the full Press release here
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, SSA UK News
Posted in Self Storage Lifestyle, Self Storage News | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Here we go then, the very first ABC Selfstore blog.
Let’s kick off with a bit of fun.
We noticed a few of our customers hanging out in their storage rooms with their iPods – so we got to pondering what’s the ultimate playlist for Music for storing stuff to…
Here’s our starter for 10:
1 – ABC – The Jackson Five (well it had to be didn’t it!)
2 - Space and Time – The Verve
3 - I still haven’t found what I’m looking for – U2
4 – Lost! – Coldplay
5 – Finally Found – The Honeyz
6 – I’m not gonna take this – The Pigeon Detectives
7 - Staple it together – Jack Johnson
8 - Lift me up – Moby
9 – Carry you home – James Blunt
10 – I can see for miles – The Who
…give them a whirl now on Spotify
Tags: About ABC Selfstore, Camden, London, music, playlist, rooms, self, Southwark, space, storage, Wandsworth
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