KSS October eKourier 2023

FEATURE

MESSAGE FROM SAM

L to R: Brad Jarvis - President, Tenant Inc, Sam Kennard - CEO, KSS, Deepa Chirayath - Digital Marketing Coordinator, KSS, Jeff Xanthos - CIO, KSS, Lance Watkins - CEO, Tenant Inc and Alfred Lutter - CTO, Tenant Inc

We have recently returned from one of our learning trips we regularly take to the USA to attend the Self Storage Association Conference. The self storage industry is mature and very competitive in the US. There are many very big operators, including 4 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s) These trips allow us to get a feeling of the latest economic challenges and the impact on the sector. We can also meet with storage operators and suppliers. In contrast to the Austral - asian market, there are numerous operators with hundreds of locations. Getting to meet and share our experi - ences has proven invaluable. We also enjoy hearing details of the latest industry news and gossip.

two significant transactions this year. Firstly, Extra Space Storage acquired Life Storage with about 1,300 locations for $12 billion USD. This toppled the #1 place held by Public Storage and grew Extra Space to 3,666 locations. There would be some bruised egos in PSHQ Then, after losing their coveted #1 position, Public Storage acquired 152 locations trading as Simply Self Storage from Blackstone for $3 billion USD. This grew Public Storage to 2,888 locations plus 266 in Europe. Still not enough to get back number 1 though. While staying in touch with global industry developments, we also get an insight into changing consumer expectation, technology, innovations and ideas that are emerging.

while in the USA came from our time in Newport Beach California with Tenant Inc, where we undertook extensive project scoping and planning for the development of our new operating platform Hummingbird for KSS. Both Jeff and Deepa spent five productive days with their teams, making signifi - cant inroads on the project. Tenant are an exciting new self storage software company with a vision to bring new thinking and platform to a sector that is largely stuck with legacy technology. Our close partnering with them is a collaboration that they are as excited by as we are. We look forward to bringing a leading edge management product to our business in 2024.

Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

The investment appetite for self storage remains high. There have been

The significant KSS business progress

3 Kennards Kourier Oct 2023