Established in July 2020, Double Boxed is the fastest-growing exclusive footwear service in the UK. Double Boxed supplies a large majority of stock directly from retailers, so they always have the latest authentic sneaker releases, and sell the rarest and freshest trainers to customers online.
Located at the SureStore self-storage facility in Burton-upon-Trent, we caught up with owner Nat Biggs, to discuss how Double Boxed has developed and how our business self-storage services have helped support and grow the business.
When the Burton-upon-Trent sneaker business became too big to operate from the young owner’s home, Nat and Double Boxed business partner Jack Tierney decided it was time to relocate.
“There’s only so many pairs of shoes I could fit in my bedroom!’
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How long has Double Boxed been a SureStore Burton customer?
Beginning with a 225sqft office and a storage unit back in February 2021, Double Boxed now operates from 2 trade counters and 3 storage units, equating to over 2000sqft in business and storage space.
What does Double Boxed use our Burton-on-Trent self-storage units for?
Primarily, Double Boxed use self-storage units to store business stock. We store a collection of exclusive footwear and streetwear at SureStore Burton, including brands such as Air Jordan, Balenciaga and Nike Dunk, that we’ve built over the years from retailers, traders and collectors.
What difference has a Trade Counter space made? Is it an adaptable space?
Our current set-up includes the two trade counters at SureStore Burton, which we’ve opened up by removing the temporary wall to have one big space. We also have a wall of trainers that we use to create content for social media and grab people’s attention.
Although we currently operate online, we do have some customers visit the Trade Counter Space. SureStore offers an adaptable space, so we can choose to have a more customer-facing trade counter space in the future. At the moment, if you’d like to arrange to come into Double Boxed, we can do a good deal that beats our online price.
What are the benefits of business storage at SureStore Burton?
The main benefit for us is that we were a rapidly expanding business. We knew this was the case soon after establishing Double Boxed, as we could see how much the stock was growing. So, moving to SureStore Burton meant we could benefit from having the room to grow into a bigger operation rather than renting much larger premises straightaway.
It’s not just the space at SureStore that’s flexible, it’s also the terms of the storage plan. Rather than paying more money for a larger business space that we’d hoped to grow into, we instead rented office space that suited what we needed at the time and then expanded.
It’s almost like ‘pay as you go’, for example, at the end of last year we needed some additional space, and the storage unit next to us happened to become available, so we quickly got in there, filled it with overflow stock, and we still use it now. The flexibility is appealing as it can work the other way around too. If a business isn’t doing as well as expected, you can scale down the operation.
Was security a factor when choosing SureStore Burton?
Yeah, the security aspect is a big pull for SureStore and one of the main reasons we chose the self-storage facility. The products we sell at Double Boxed are high-demand luxury items, so security is important. We’ve heard about other people in the sneaker trade who’ve experienced break-ins but being at SureStore we’re not too worried about that. We’ve installed our own cameras at Double Boxed in addition to the CCTV across the facility for our peace of mind rather than a serious security concern.
If you look at other self-storage facilities, you may not pay as much as you do at SureStore, but security is a priority here. We know by choosing SureStore Burton that we’ve taken the right steps as business owners to avoid stock theft, especially after hours.
How do the SureStore Burton self-storage team assist your business?
Communication is very good at SureStore Burton, and we have a close relationship with the team at the reception. I feel like SureStore understands we’re a growing business and are supportive. It’s good to know we’ve got the flexibility, and that’s definitely a unique selling point of SureStore.
The team also accepts deliveries on behalf of the business if I’m not at the facility and will ensure our valuable stock is placed in a holding unit or in the Double Boxed storage units rather than left on the loading bay. These extra services at SureStore Burton are why we chose the self-storage facility.
What are the future plans for Double Boxed?
We’ve spoken about different avenues and aim to be one of the biggest names in our industry. At the moment, we mainly sell direct to customers and sell a lot of one-off pairs, but we’ve been looking at bulk buying and selling in the future. We’re in a fortunate position where we’re well-established, and it feels like the time to invest in more stock, store more trainers that rise in value over time, expand our collection and grow the Double Boxed team.
Contact your nearest SureStore Location for more information on how our self-storage services can benefit your business.