NITRO, W.Va. -- Lyn and Caren Wilcher wanted a business that would serve as a retirement investment, but they didn't want it to interfere with their day jobs.
Lyn and Caren Wilcher have opened an automated self-storage business in Nitro. The Wilchers' business — WV Storage Limited Liability Co. — began in September 2004 when they acquired Nitro Storage.
Their solution: Buy a self-storage business and automate it.
Four years later the Wilchers have about 500 customers and almost 600 units. They have become one of the larger self-storage operators in the Kanawha Valley.
The Wilchers' business - WV Storage Limited Liability Co. - began in September 2004 when they acquired Nitro Storage, which was owned by a friend, Chuck Boggs, and his father Charlie.
"They had four properties in Nitro with a total of 215 units," Lyn said. "Caren's mother, Claudia Calkins, was living in Myrtle Beach, looking for something to do. She came back to manage the day-to-day operations. She's still our facilities manager."
Calkins' husband, Larry, also helps out from time to time.
Lyn and Caren both have high-powered day jobs. Lyn is chief financial officer of Investment Management Group of Charleston, a company involved in real estate construction and contract coal mining. Caren is associate director of the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, the state agency that finances economic development projects.
Two years ago, Chuck Boggs called Lyn again - about a lot for sale on W.Va. 25 in Nitro. The Wilchers bought the property at 901 First Ave. South in early 2007 and began developing it.
They contracted with Betco Inc. of Statesville, N.C. to build a self-storage complex on their lot.
"They are self-storage building manufacturers," Lyn explained. "They did the engineering on the concrete slabs, did the blueprints for the buildings, manufactured the buildings and doors. They sent a crew up to erect the buildings.
"We get a 10- to 40-year warranty on the project. We did it this way because we figured that if we had an issue, we could make one call and have it taken care of."
WV Storage's original office was at 1202 Main Ave. in Nitro.
"We wanted our new location to be our main facility, so we built a new office on the site," Lyn said.
The site also contains 127 storage units, including 51 climate-controlled units, ranging in size from 5 feet by 10 feet to 10 feet by 22 feet. The Wilchers began renting the new units in May.
"Once we get the occupancy up to about 70 percent, we'll construct a third building," Lyn said. "It will be about 7,000 square feet with about 30 units."
The Wilchers had been using a software program that they found did not integrate well with the new facility's system.
"We checked around and changed to software by SiteLink," Lyn said, referring to a product by SMD Software Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.
SiteLink wrote the interface program for an automated kiosk brand-named Insomniac. OpenTech Alliance, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., markets the kiosk. The Wilchers bought security cameras and keypads from Digitech International Inc. of Asheville, N.C.
NITRO, W.Va. -- Lyn and Caren Wilcher wanted a business that would serve as a retirement investment, but they didn't want it to interfere with their day jobs.
Their solution: Buy a self-storage business and automate it.
Four years later the Wilchers have about 500 customers and almost 600 units. They have become one of the larger self-storage operators in the Kanawha Valley.
The Wilchers' business - WV Storage Limited Liability Co. - began in September 2004 when they acquired Nitro Storage, which was owned by a friend, Chuck Boggs, and his father Charlie.
"They had four properties in Nitro with a total of 215 units," Lyn said. "Caren's mother, Claudia Calkins, was living in Myrtle Beach, looking for something to do. She came back to manage the day-to-day operations. She's still our facilities manager."
Calkins' husband, Larry, also helps out from time to time.
Lyn and Caren both have high-powered day jobs. Lyn is chief financial officer of Investment Management Group of Charleston, a company involved in real estate construction and contract coal mining. Caren is associate director of the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, the state agency that finances economic development projects.
Two years ago, Chuck Boggs called Lyn again - about a lot for sale on W.Va. 25 in Nitro. The Wilchers bought the property at 901 First Ave. South in early 2007 and began developing it.
They contracted with Betco Inc. of Statesville, N.C. to build a self-storage complex on their lot.
"They are self-storage building manufacturers," Lyn explained. "They did the engineering on the concrete slabs, did the blueprints for the buildings, manufactured the buildings and doors. They sent a crew up to erect the buildings.
"We get a 10- to 40-year warranty on the project. We did it this way because we figured that if we had an issue, we could make one call and have it taken care of."
WV Storage's original office was at 1202 Main Ave. in Nitro.
"We wanted our new location to be our main facility, so we built a new office on the site," Lyn said.
The site also contains 127 storage units, including 51 climate-controlled units, ranging in size from 5 feet by 10 feet to 10 feet by 22 feet. The Wilchers began renting the new units in May.
"Once we get the occupancy up to about 70 percent, we'll construct a third building," Lyn said. "It will be about 7,000 square feet with about 30 units."
The Wilchers had been using a software program that they found did not integrate well with the new facility's system.
"We checked around and changed to software by SiteLink," Lyn said, referring to a product by SMD Software Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.
SiteLink wrote the interface program for an automated kiosk brand-named Insomniac. OpenTech Alliance, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., markets the kiosk. The Wilchers bought security cameras and keypads from Digitech International Inc. of Asheville, N.C.
Those three companies - SMD Software, OpenTech Alliance and Digitech - have an alliance, "so everything integrates smoothly," Lyn said.
"We wanted to make our new facility state-of-the-art," he said. "With the Insomniac kiosk, our customers can do anything they need to do so far as renting a unit, making a payment or updating their customer information. It takes a picture of them while they're registering for a unit. It takes a fingerprint. It scans their driver's license. It prints out a digitally signed contract and prints out a receipt. It will even dispense a lock if they purchase a lock."
The kiosk also has a feature that allows a customer to contact Calkins.
"The customer pushes an intercom which links to one of our phones and we can answer their questions and help resolve any problem they may have," Lyn said. "We're always just a phone call away.
"The kiosk can perform every function that we could perform if we were right there in front of them. And it's easy to use - it has a touch screen and there's an animated person who walks you through the process. It's really neat."
The Wilchers' security cameras are set up so they can be remotely monitored via the Internet.
"I can sit at home in the evening and monitor the facilities to make sure everything is OK," Lyn said.
There are nine security cameras at the new site. The Wilchers also have installed a 16-channel digital video recorder.
The story doesn't end there.
"While we were developing the property at 901 First Ave. South, Chuck Boggs called again," Lyn said. "He told me about storage property in Elkview for sale. We knew where it was because we had driven by it. We went out and looked again. We thought it would be a nice addition."
In January the Wilchers bought the self-storage units at two Elkview locations formerly known as Maynor Self Storage.
"We just completed a 6,000-square-foot expansion so we now have about 250 units at Elkview," Lyn said.
An Insomniac kiosk has been installed at 5116 Elk River Road, next to the 7-Eleven in Elkview. The kiosk will manage that location as well as the storage units at 5152 Elk River Rd., which the Wilchers call their Blue Creek facility.
"Our goal is to make the Elkview facilities remote-controlled, where we can manage it through the kiosk and still provide excellent customer service," Lyn said.
In addition to the systems they've purchased, Caren has developed a Web site, www.wvstorageonline.com. The SiteLink software allows existing customers to make payments online and new customers to reserve units.
"Caren and I are very proud of what we have accomplished in just four years, essentially working at it on a part-time basis," Lyn said.
