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Parking cars, boats and RVs might not be an obvious economic indicator, but the sizable expansion at Sarasota-based Security First Storage is certainly a respectable gauge.
Security First, across the street from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, specializes in storing and maintaining vehicles for snowbirds while they are up north. The firm has done that for 28 years out of a 25,000-square-foot facility that holds about 100 cars. But Dave Coleman, who runs the business with his brother, Mike Coleman, recently upped the firm's growth ante: It signed a lease this month for a 35,000-square-foot space that can hold at least 100 more vehicles.
Now Security First, with annual sales increases of around 40% a year for the last two years, has two places and more than double the space. Says Dave Coleman: “I've always been a little aggressive.”
Security First stores everything from fishing boats to Bentleys. The company, says Dave Coleman, has an intricate system of maintaining cars left for long periods of time. That includes starting each car every two weeks or so; moving each one slightly to preserve tires; and charging batteries. The approach, says Coleman, is the biggest reason for the customer increase. That, and he says more customers are coming and going with a higher frequency, a shift of the traditional snowbird January-to-April model.
“I'm very customer service oriented,” Coleman tells Coffee Talk. “We don't just park and walk away. I tell people what we do is not rocket science, but we do it very well.”
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