“Storages Airbnb”: the growth of the service of renting vacant rooms for storage

An empty bedroom or garage has become sources of extra income for Brazilians amid the pandemic. These vacant spaces inside family homes began to be used to store items from other families and businesses.

In the future, they may act as small distribution centers for E-Commerce To speed up deliveries.

Since the beginning of the year, a platform has been operating in the country that connects those who have available space with those looking for areas to rent. It operates in 200 cities, including all capitals and the Federal District. “We want to be ‘Airbnb’ for storage,” says Mario Quintanilla, CEO of startup All In Storage.

Former CEO and shareholder of Aliance Sonae, in the . sector shopping centersQuintanilha says the inspiration for the work came from a personal need. He moved from São Paulo to Florianopolis (SC), and ended up leaving his belongings in two rooms at a friend’s house.

After the first year of occupation, he decided to pay rent. “The idea of ​​a company involved in warehousing came from there.”

In the United States, companies involved in warehousing are located in neighboring regions such as the neighbour, as well as in Canada, Australia, and Europe.

But in Brazil, the part is very new. Here, even the market for self-storage, which are large companies dedicated to storing things, is in its infancy. Eduardo Terra, president of the Brazilian Association of Retail and Consumers (SBVC), points to two obstacles to advancing self-storage in the country: not being part of Brazilian culture and a high lease value to the market.

pandemic

The startup that started working at pandemic It was supported by it. With the decrease in income caused by the interruption of activities, many people started to rent vacant rooms in the house for storage in order to earn additional income.

Such was the case with independent financial advisor Fabio de Paula. In April, he decided to rent the vacant garage by the podium. “It was a separate room from the house, and it was under renovation,” he explains.

He found someone interested in storing furniture in the place. As for the lease, de Paula receives about R$300 per month, after deductions from the monthly start-up commission, which is between 15% and 20% for promoting the “match”.

On the platform, rent is between $10 and R$15 per square metre, half the rent in self-storage, the executive says. Other advantages are reduced bureaucracy, at least one month’s lease and the entire process online.

What goes against this is that in the event of a claim, the lessor is solely responsible, according to the terms of the start-up contract.

New job

Engineer Bruno Yoshida was the latest to enter the storage sharing sector due to the pandemic. When the health crisis began, he had rented a shack to open an auto parts store and was waiting for a license to operate.

With the closure, he abandoned the physical store. At the time, he considered redoing the shed. But, by searching online, he discovered the platform and a new destination for vacant space: storage sharing. “It was scary, because my partner and I have another project.”

Yoshida divided the shed into boxes and opened a company, iBox. Today it has 30 storage boxes, 16 of which are rented. It is expected to reach 80 funds this year. “I’m still not making a profit, but the scenario is very good,” the engineer says. He rents 40% of the space via the podium and the rest on his own.

Among the clients, there are mobile families and independent professionals who have scaled down their offices and small e-commerce.

Information from O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.