Paul Post
By Paul Post
America is a nation on the move, as nearly 20 people million are expected to relocate this summer. U-Haul’s purchase of former Kmart stores, including one at 308 Dix Ave. in Queensbury, helps ease such transitions by giving customers convenient services from rental vehicles to trailer hitches, storage containers and supplies designed to protect fragile items.
The repurposed former retail store in Queensbury gives new life to the property.
“I’ve seen several (former Kmart stores) that have sat too long,” said Levi Parmerter, U-Haul area district vice president. “You can’t use them and bad things start to happen. People start to break in and steal the copper and HVAC units. It becomes a nuisance you don’t want.”
“So this is a good use of the building for sure,” he said. “There are not a lot of retailers that can come in and fill a 150,000-square-foot building any more. Brick and mortar retail isn’t what it used to be.”
U-Haul bought the 25-acre Queensbury site for $7.1 million and purchased 12 other Kmarts across the U.S. in 2019 for $62 million.
U-Haul slowly modified the local site, including installation of 470 interior climate-controlled storage units, and 214 outside in the large parking lot. It spent $2 million revamping the local property.
The Queensbury Kmart first opened in 1994 and closed in March 2019.
“The building itself was fairly simple to convert,” Parmerter said. “The problem was getting our product and use to fit what the town had it zoned for and wanted. That was a bit of a challenge.”
For example, former 40-foot-high light poles in the parking lot have been lowered to 20 feet, and new landscape features such as trees and bushes were planted around the perimeter.
Parmerter said company president, chairman and chief executive officer Joe Shoen personally visited the Queensbury site before approving its purchase.
U-Haul will continue to operate a second, existing Queensbury site near Northway Exit 18, where most of its business is truck and trailer rentals, along with some storage units.
“We outgrew that location a long time ago,” Parmerter said. “We were looking to expand our climate-controlled market and have another site for trailer hitch and truck rentals. Plus we have warehouse space for mobile storage units here (Dix Avenue), so this site gives us a whole line of products.”
The Queensbury facility has a retail showroom, plus an area for connecting trailer hitches and bike racks to customer cars and trucks. The property allows people to pull into a covered bay to load and unload interior storage unit items.
“They’ll be out of the elements with overhead doors down behind them,” Parmerter said. “It gives the customer a real good sense of security. If they’ve already filled their garage, their attic, this will be an extension of their home. That’s exactly what this represents.”
At present, 40 percent of the facility is filled with climate-controlled storage units and large wooden, portable U-Boxes that can be filled with belongings and then shipped to a person’s destination when they’re finally ready to move.
“A lot of times people move to a new job, college or fly across country and stuff comes right before or after them,” Parmerter said. “We drop the container at a customer’s house. They can load it at their leisure. Then we’ll pick it back up and store it here until they move, and need to ship it one-way. U-Boxes fit in the back of a tractor-trailer. People can rent however many they need. You put things in once and take them out once, when boxes are delivered.”
A five-person team led by general manager Glendon Binette is responsible for marketing and keeping customers satisfied.
“A lot of our customers are repeat so we strive to provide good service so they continue to use us. That’s what has to happen here,” Parmerter said.
The biggest customer base is people picking up and dropping off things after buying a new home within the greater Glens Falls area, he said.
“Plus, a lot of people from New York City are moving into the area, buying second homes in Lake George or the Adirondacks,” he said. “There are also a lot of one-way rentals such as kids going to college within New York state. More people are moving every darn day.”