Early in 2001 Robert McCarty purchased a building in Portsmouth, Va., formerly known as The Christmas Barn, that manufactured and sold Christmas trees and decorations. This site was ideal because it is an inner city location with approximately 1200 residential rental units within a three mile radius and little competition. The site consists of 2 buildings (60,000 and 34,000 sq ft) on a 2-1/2 acre lot.

American Patriot Self Storage officially opened in October 2001, with 60 outside units, 27 climate control units ready to rent, two large commercial spaces already rented and 50 units under construction. In 2002 they built out their "drive-thru" consisting of 102 units ranging from 5x5 to 10x20. This was a unique concept, as you drive to your hallway to access your unit, keeping you out of the weather. Since then, American Patriot has built out four more areas as needed, just completing another section in May of 2008. They have sixty climate controlled units consisting of 5x5 and 5x10 units upstairs with elevator access. Altogether, there are 385 units (127 climate) with sizes ranging from 5x5 to 40x40 units and one 10,000 sq ft commercial space.

The facility is gated, well lit with digital security surveillance, and monitored after closing by a local security company. Tenants like it and feel safe. Thirty percent of American Patriot's current tenants have been here for over 3 years and we consistently maintain a near 90% occupancy. In addition, they are a local dealer for U-Haul with three local trucks; and sell moving and packing supplies. American Patriot offers the whole package in moving and storage needs.

From the very beginning, QuikStor was Mr. McCarty's choice of software and access keypads. "I learned of them from Inside Self Storage and they were highly recommended from other users. QuikStor had the most to offer. We are not a typical facility, in that we have 3 access points with keypads. We have been very happy with QuikStor and any problems have been quickly resolved through their excellent technical support."

Maggie Boylan has managed this site since opening in 2001. "We use QuikStor gate keypads and QuikStor Express. QuikStor Express is very user friendly, and the reports make day to day operations easy to manage, from preparing deposits, to notices and letters, it's all right there for you. I check my daily and gate reports first thing every morning. This gives me a total picture of everything that occurred the day before. About a third of my tenants use auto credit card billing so that they don't have to remember to come in on the first of the month to pay."

Plans are being finalized for a second facility in nearby Suffolk, VA. This will be on a 7 acre site and will be constructed in two phases of 350 units each. Fifty percent of the units will be climate controlled. This will be a state of the art facility using digital video surveillance, access control, paging & music, intercoms and wireless door alarms. We look forward to QuikStor being part of our continued success.