Tapping Into the Business of Wine Storage

Some say a glass a day keeps them healthy while some take a deep dive into vineyard vintages and collect. Whatever the case, wine is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks, and consumption is increasing steadily, year by year. More and more people have also been purchasing wine as investments, saving them for later down the road. Even throughout the pandemic wine consumption held steady, even increasing at certain points. This trend makes wine storage a beneficial, and intriguing profit center for your self storage company. But before you fully go ahead with adding wine storage to your service, know why it’s such a great emerging profit center, and what you should consider before going straight in.

Why Wine Storage?

As mentioned, wine consumption has been steadily growing over the past few decades, with an increasing number of people ending up with more wine than they know what to do with. This makes for a unique niche offering that many self storage owners have had success in. Not only does it set your business apart from other industry comeptitors, but it is also a feature that attracts customers where self storage is not always on the top of their minds. Further, wine storage has proven to be extremely profitable, with your rent per square foot being much higher than normal units. This is a result of the compact nature of wine storage, with the average unit being smaller, but also the ability to stack them up together.

Demographics and Location

Before proceeding, you have to know that adding wine storage isn’t going to work for every self storage business and unit. There are several things you need to consider before you decide to invest in adding wine storage to your services. While the location for wine storage is no longer confined to vineyard territory, the typical demographic still skews towards high-income, affluent, residential areas. Of course, these are the commonalities, but there are always exceptions. If you are looking to add wine storage to your facility, make sure to do market research as well as a feasibility study to figure out whether the investment is worth the money.

Design and Construction

So if you’ve done the legwork, and it seems like adding wine storage is a good idea, you now have to start looking at the design and construction considerations. First and foremost, wine storage requires close monitoring of internal temperature and humidity, with incorrect temperature leading to faster aging wine and incorrect humidity leading to damaging of the wine’s cork and label. It is therefore advised to have an effective HVAC system in place, and to work with a contractor with wine storage experience.  We also recommend ensuring that there is no direct sunlight into your storage units, as well as creating units for wine to lay on its side while in storage.

The next most important design feature is self storage security. Wine collections can be worth a lot in dollars as well as personal significance, so making sure the unit is secure is a priority. You should install video cameras, as well as a good locking system. If your units aren’t perceived as safe, you will not see them get used by potential customers. Another consideration is the decor. Wine storage is more often than not a luxury service, so be attuned to the materials you use, as well as the general atmosphere you create in your wine storage units. Many have tasting rooms and wooden finishes to amp up the customer experience.

Marketing and Sales

With it constructed and ready to go, the final hurdle is announcing to the world your new service. On top of the regular digital and physical ads you might run, you can consider giving new customers a tour of the wine storage area, meaning they’ll have you in mind if they ever need the service. Another great way is to contact restaurants in your area, which will either need wine storage or know someone who will need it. The wine community is vast, and making inroads in these communities will open your business up to more prospective customers. You could even host wine-centric events at your facility, and meet more potential consumers there.

Read more on Marketing your Storage Facility Online

Wine collecting is a luxury, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t consider catering for that luxury at your company. Wine storage is a proven niche service that is extremely profitable, and if you think it’s worth the investment, hopefully, the pointers above will set you off in the right direction.

Related article: Ancillary Profit Centres in Self Storage

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