ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Tucker Road Storage has been a fixture in Liberal and helping people store their belongings and recently, due to demand, a second location was opened.
The ribbon was cut on the new location at 733 E. Pancake Blvd. April 9 and as owner Tim Dieker tells it, the decision to open a second location has been in the works for a little while.
“My wife, Trish, and I had bought Tucker Road Storage in 2019. We really had no storage unit experience, so the purchase didn't include just the property, we were lucky and fortunate to have Brenda Headrick along with us as the site manager,” Dieker said. “We've been entrepreneurs for many years now, and we've owned five to seven different companies, and we were looking for something that was more of a passive income idea, so we decided to take a swing at storage units. Brenda taught us for about six months about what to expect and everything else and about a year after we bought the business, we changed some of processes and made some other changes we think have been really beneficial. We've enjoyed Liberal very much, and this community has been really good to us, the people are wonderful. Brenda also has a great connection to the community which has kept our original facility full. For about two years, we've been full at the other location, and we were looking at some data and marketing, and we decided to try and expand. Our initial thought was to buy a piece of land and develop a whole new garage deal, but land is much more expensive than what I was prepared for. This property at 733 E. Pancake Blvd. became available, we looked at it, and then Trish and I decided to go with the pods because they're sealed and help keep out dust and the elements, which people love. When you store something at a facility like ours, you want to be sure your stuff is safe, and that's what we do. We followed what Tucker Road Storage had already done as far as security and the camera system and lighting, and we've done the same with this new location.”
Dieker added the decision to open a second location came after much careful thought.
“Like anything else, when you own a business, you have to do the research. We have a marketing company we work with, and at that time, they told us we were losing out on possible renters who were wanting to rent, but we were full at the other location,” Dieker said. “We did our due diligence, we went around town and checked things out and at the time, there were 175 empty doors in Liberal someone could go and rent, but they weren't renting from our competitors. We took a list, and from that list, we called some of the people and asked them why they were on OUR waiting list and why they were wanting to go with us. Through those conversations, we discovered people really appreciate the personal touch Brenda gives and how well she works with the customers as well as the security we offer with the limited access and camera systems and all of that. Trish and I learned people will drive the extra distance just to make sure their possessions are secure.”
Dieker said the new location also has many benefits.
“Trish and I looked for about eight months or so, and we were in the process of trying to purchase a couple other properties for this location. We had also looked at the property that used to house WB Supply, and we noticed a big rainstorm come into Liberal, and there was a lot of water over there, but this side was drier and also already pre-paved, so it had so many pros we'd been looking for,” Dieker said. “We started moving everything in June 2023, and we officially opened Dec. 1, 2023, that's when Brenda was allowed to start renting. There were a few odds and ends that weren't fully in place until the end of December 2023, but we started renting at the beginning of the month. As an entrepreneur, you discover everything has to take care of itself. If everything's going well and running smoothly, that's a good thing. Every decision I make is based on data and marketing, I never make a decision based on just emotion unless a customer treats Brenda badly, and I will ALWAYS back her up because I don't fully subscribe to the 'the customer is always right' adage.”
So far, the response to the new location has been overwhelmingly positive, Dieker said.
“Within what I'll call the first full three months of business ... my marketing had shown at this point, we'd be at 21 percent capacity, but we're currently at about 50 percent capacity, so we're really happy about that and we're way ahead of what we'd anticipated,” Dieker said. “There are three ways people can rent from us – people can come in and rent directly from Brenda, people can call and get everything set up by phone by calling (620) 391-8121, and people can also get everything set up online. And we offer that variety because we know everyone's wants and needs are different, so we want to make it the customer's choice. We're really happy with how the response has been so far, and we're really surprised because it's just so far beyond what we'd expected. With that many empty doors in Liberal, it was a struggle for me to expand. This isn't the complete expansion we wanted ... we also want to get into offering storage space for RVs and camping parking, but this property doesn't offer that, so we're still looking for a way we can do that. We definitely want to do more, but it's one step at a time.”
“One thing I've noticed is how many repeat customers we have. Some people who were at our old location needed a new unit, but I'd have to tell them I was full there, which they'd be upset about very briefly until I told them to come to this new location,” Headrick added. “There's already been a lot of praise about the new location because of the quality of the units and everything else.”
Overall, Headrick said, anyone with any questions is more than welcome to get in touch.
“If anyone needs a unit, they just need to get in touch with us and we'll be happy to answer any questions they have. It's been awesome to see the growth from my end of it as a manager because when I started, we were only at about 60 percent capacity, so getting to 100 percent capacity was really exciting, but then quickly came that 'Now what?' feeling,” Headrick said. “I already had people wanting to get in at the new location before we opened the doors, and we had a few people fully ready to come in when we were able to start renting.”
