Storage ideas

 From Spain comes a new player to the self storage market (private spaces to store items). It is called Simplebox, it has behind the vision of the Pombo Ortega family and the plan to bring this service to the center of Montevideo, according to José Manuel Pombo Ortega. In Spain, the businessman entered the business in 2006, had about 450 boxes and was a member of the National Self-Storage Association.

5x5 storage unit https://www.hometeamstorage.com/

After selling his business in his country, he decided to land in Uruguay with "the experience of everything he learned in Spain, Europe and in the sector" and because his father had taken the first steps of business in the country, he said he. «In 2006 my father came for the first time on vacation and fell in love with the country. We started by buying assets and we have been growing little by little since then. We feel Uruguay as our home, my father lives here all year round and he is already a citizen. I am in Spain, but I come very often and I am already organizing to come and live as well, "he said.

The first began operating in November, involved a disbursement of about US $ 300,000 between works and conditioning and is located in the heart of Ciudad Vieja, on May 25 between Juncal and Bartolomé Miter.

The business plan involves opening four spaces in the downtown area of ​​the capital. The first one already started operating in November. It involved an outlay of about US $ 300,000 between work and conditioning and is located in the heart of Ciudad Vieja, on May 25 between Juncal and Bartolomé Miter. It has about 1,500 square meters (m2) and has about 200 boxes, in sizes ranging from 1 m2 to 20 m2.

The second phase includes a second location that doubles the first in square meters. Without revealing its location yet, Pombo explained that it will be about 3,000 m2 of a leasable building of more than 6,000 m2. The number of boxes is not defined either, but estimates that there will be about 600. «It will depend on the box-mix (average box size) and we will establish them according to the demand of the first center with some adjustments as it is another area, but more or less less about 600 boxes, "he explained.

"Having a Box on the outskirts (of the city) is better than not having one, but having it 5-10 minutes from your home or work makes this service acquire another dimension in terms of utility," he added.

Pombo preferred not to detail the total investment, but indicated that most of it focuses on the real estate assets in which the centers that have been acquired since 2006 will be located. In any case, he assures that they are "several million dollars." "They are millions of dollars from the family at 100% and we have enough space for the first four phases of the venture."