The owners of Austin’s Safe Storage LLC of Magee have been notified by U-Haul that they have earned a North American Top 100 Class ‘AAA’ Dealer Award of Achievement from the U-Haul Holding Company.
The award celebrates the fact that Austin’s volume of business has put them in the 100 highest performing of 21,000 U-Haul dealerships, not just in the U. S. but in all of North America.
The business is owned by C. A. and Laurie Smith of Magee and managed by their daughter, Brittany Milton. C. A. was quick to praise his daughter for the work she does.
Brittany graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with an accounting degree and became a CPA. Her dad said she had other offers but wanted to stay in Simpson County and run the business. “It will be hers one day anyway,” he added.
“She handles it all,” he continued, “and does it well. I just check in once in awhile and help when I can. Brittany’s children are involved in sports, and she often has to take them to games or go to watch them play, so we fill in for her then.”
C. A. had watched the burgeoning storage business grow in the early 2000s and realized that it was a good opportunity. He and Laurie opened their own facility in 2004 as Austin’s Safe Storage, a provider of storage units of different sizes and types. The business took off.
A year later they were contacted by U-Haul and offered the opportunity to become a U-Haul dealer, providing different sizes of trucks and trailers for moving purposes.
“People needed to move their stuff to the units they rented here and often needed a temporary vehicle to do it. It seemed like a good fit,” C. A. said. He agreed to become a U-Haul dealer in 2005, and that business took off as well.
C. A. said he has seen people put in U-Haul dealerships up and down Highway 49 between Hattiesburg and Jackson, only to close them after a short time. “We’re still here after 20 years,” he said with a smile.
The storage business is booming as well. Austin’s now has 750 units, all full with a waiting list. Much of their business is from repeat customers.
Those customers can choose from different sizes of units, including temperature control units. Austin’s offers RV and boat storage in addition to commercial storage space. The units are surrounded by a security fence with a coded entry gate.
C. A. attributes part of the success of the business to the family’s attempt to keep rental fees as low as possible, saying that other storage facilities he has checked have raised their prices. “We could go up,” he said, “but we want to serve the community, and some people here can’t pay higher prices.”
Austin’s Safe Storage and U-Haul is located at 1089 Simpson Hwy. 49 in Magee. The office manager is on site Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m.-12 noon. To contact them, call 601-849-3517.
