Longyards expands outdoor storage model across Canada and U.S.

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Longyards expands outdoor storage

Highlights

Longyards expanded from its 2019 Ottawa launch to Florida and Texas locations, testing demand before securing land to minimize operational risk.
Initial Ottawa yard leased all spaces within six weeks, enabling investor repayment of seller-financed debt and validating the outdoor storage model's demand.
Founder Chris Long states a single Longyards storage site now produces more income than his former 17-employee construction company, underscoring strong market need.

From Ottawa launch to multi-market growth

As reported by Business Insider, Chris Long founded Longyards after running into storage problems while operating his construction company in Ottawa, Canada, and turned that need into a business renting secure outdoor yards to contractors and other businesses on a month-to-month basis.

Long, 38, says the concept brings a self-storage model to open land, allowing customers to keep work vehicles, containers, equipment and materials behind gates without committing to a long warehouse lease. He had worked as a carpenter before starting Conrad Construction, and later bought residential properties, but found tenant management frustrating while still lacking a practical solution for storing his own tools and equipment.

The first site took shape under financial pressure. Long bought a 10-acre property in Ottawa, but says a large unpaid construction job hurt his cash flow and left him with limited funds to develop the yard while a seller-financed loan had to be repaid within two years. The site opened on October 1, 2019, with no tenants, and he says he had roughly six to eight weeks to lease spaces before winter slowed business activity.

He began cold-calling landscapers and approaching potential customers at gas stations, Home Depot parking lots and even at red lights. Long says early tenants included a roofer, an electrician, a landscaper and an RV-and-boat operator, and that the initial spaces were leased within six weeks, helping him secure an investor who paid off the seller financing before the deadline.

Demand-driven strategy shapes expansion

Longyards has since expanded beyond its original Canadian location into Florida, where Long and his family now live, and Texas, with additional sites in the pipeline. Business Insider says it reviewed an appraisal for the first Canadian location, the company's U.S. franchise disclosure document and a recent 90-day snapshot of one Canadian bank account.

Long says the company follows a "demand first, land second" approach when entering new markets. Longyards tests whether contractors and other businesses are actively seeking secure outdoor storage before looking for property, a sequence he says helps avoid land that may appear inexpensive but is unusable because of zoning limits, costly site work or weak local demand.

The business still carries operational challenges despite its relatively simple setup of gravel, fencing, cameras, gates, lighting and digital access software. Long says operators must handle permits, tenant screening, insurance compliance, security and contamination risks, adding that there is no established playbook for the segment.

Long argues the opportunity remains significant because contractors continue to need space to park trucks, store equipment and secure materials between jobs. He says a single storage yard now generates more income than his earlier construction operation, which had 17 employees and multiple active jobs.

Our earlier article on Menara Asia’s Menarabena construction platform in Malaysia looked at how the sector is moving toward digitalisation to tackle cost pressures, material-specification requirements, and tight project timelines. We noted that Menarabena is designed to connect contractors with building-material suppliers while centralising certification, documentation, and compliance information, alongside efforts to speed up approvals through CIDB-linked support in Shanghai.

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