Kennards Self Storage April eKourier

PROPERTY

SPOTLIGHT ON PYMBLE

conversation towards KSS "The People who Care". Our Pymble customers are one of a kind! If you don’t know George, just ask anyone who has spent time here. He dabbles primarily in Natural Artisan Water, but his 70 square metres here is just a sideline to his warehouses and other unique interests that all involve, “how much can I get for that? Do you want to sell that?” He spends most of the day here and goes out of his way to meet other KSS customers that he finds interesting. Level four here is a bit like family, with several daily regulars sharing coffees, cakes and lots of chats. They really look after the centre and us. Steve Jansen a 20 year veteran and Varsha Samji coming up to seven years, have been the Pymble team since opening December 2014 (pictured left). A mix of good cop, bad cop and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Being an expanding centre occupancy gets to a certain point here, as high as 90% has been reached and then another wing of storage is built to keep up with demand. Currently 6,100 square metres with plenty of land and plans to expand further, up to 12,000 square metres of storage. The next expansion is the big one, and we cannot wait! Pymble has the largest spaces in the area with 37 – 70 square metres always in high demand. Occupancy currently hovers around the 85% mark. Pymble is still trying to hit the $2 million income with 2020 just missing out. 2021 is on track for sure. Merchandise is interesting here with sales bouncing between $6k to $10k per month. We are strong sellers and love a sale. We are hoping to get back to the high $90k’s for this financial year as was the case a couple of years ago. Competition and choice right on our doorstep can make it challenging. We are embracing that our Team make the differ - ence, that we are confident in our product, loving the role and treating our visitors with relaxing attitudes. We always show pride and ownership in everything we do here at KSS Pymble. Pymble Team - Steve Jansen and Varsha Samji

T he original occupant of this site at Pymble from the early 80’s was The National Measure- ment Institute, who are Australia's peak measurement body responsible for biological, chemical, legal and physical measurement. ASADA conducted the athlete sampling analysis here for the 2000 Olympics as well, and funnily enough were one of our first storers when we opened as Kennards Self Storage taking up a 22 square metre garage. KSS purchased the building in 2013 and started the demo work in 2014. It took almost a year before it completely transformed into Blue and Orange. The demo alone was massive as when purchased the entire building was still a fully fitted Laboratory/Office block, with that abandoned look and feel. Due to their enormous power usage we are left with our own Power Station still on site. Now it's powering just a half dozen circuit breakers. Council also required us to install huge above ground water tanks exclusively for NSWFB use, and locate them at the front of the property. 10,000 litres of water that can be utilised if ever necessary. Finally, December 2014 saw Pymble’s first customers. Pymble has a nicely landscaped welcoming driveway located at the top of a short busy street and we are

surrounded by attractive bushland with tall Ghost Gums and native gardens. It truly is the most picturesque entrance. The building frontage is not imposing and looks quite small, but the real truth is cleverly hidden. Five levels on a sloping block of land, all is revealed once inside. Access is easy with two main gate entry points leading to our lower and ground floor levels and to the lift. The carpark we were left with has over 70 parking spaces, so RV storage is available, and congestion impossible. Primarily office blocks and a couple of small building suppliers surround us, plus a gym right next door. Later this year a new Bunnings will open. Competition is very close with National Storage just next door, and a new Storage King across the road from them, with KSS proud and dominant at the top of the street. Our focus has always been to be well known in the Upper North Shore area. We support local cafes and the gym and are very well known by name with referrals coming in regularly. We have a more relaxed attitude towards customers and selling, by treating visitors with both respect and some fun as well. We deflect any comments of a “deal" or "best price” redirecting the

14 Kennards Kourier April 2021