Self storage isn't a retail business, or is it?

In self storage, we naturally spend a lot of time focused on our own industry metrics. But sometimes the most interesting signals are hiding outside the storage world entirely. Today, we’re taking another look at retail foot traffic trends and discussing how they may actually tell us quite a bit about future self-storage demand.

1. Retail foot traffic can be a better indicator of market demand than Census data. I recently read the Colliers U.S. Retail Monthly Foot Traffic & Sales Analysis report (April 2026) covering retail foot traffic trends across the U.S., and came away with some inspiration. One of the biggest challenges with feasibility studies is that demographic data is often lagged by several years. By the time population estimates fully reflect growth, the development wave is usually already underway. Retail foot traffic, on the other hand, gives us something much closer to real-time consumer behavior. If Costco, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, grocery-anchored centers, and suburban retail corridors are seeing rising visitation, it’s usually a strong signal that households are moving into the area, spending money, accumulating possessions, and putting down roots. In many ways, retail traffic may actually function as an early indicator for future self-storage demand.

   
   

2. Self storage demand is about behavior, not just population. I think one of the mistakes our industry sometimes makes is treating self storage demand as purely mathematical. We spend a lot of time focusing on SF per capita, occupancy, and population growth, which absolutely matter. But consumer behavior matters too. Two markets can have similar demographics and vastly different storage utilization. Why? Because storage demand is tied to how people live. Markets with heavy retail activity often reflect higher rates of consumption, home turnover, renovations, furniture purchases, e-commerce overflow, and overall household accumulation. A market where people are actively buying, moving, upgrading homes, and spending money tends to generate more storage demand than a market with stagnant consumer activity. Retail foot traffic may actually help explain why some markets outperform what the traditional data suggests.

   
   

3. Site Selection Is More Psychological Than We Admit. I’ve talked before about “the first 50 feet” of a self-storage facility and how much customer perception matters. The same concept may apply at the market level. Sites located near thriving retail corridors benefit from something difficult to quantify: familiarity and consumer confidence. If customers already drive past a corridor several times per week to visit Costco, Target, or a busy grocery center, your facility becomes part of their mental map of the area. That matters. I think we sometimes underestimate how much daily visibility and consumer patterns influence leasing velocity. A storage facility tucked away in a technically “good” demographic pocket may underperform compared to one located near the center of actual consumer activity.