Preserving Worcester: U-Haul Announces Plans for Historic Shoe Factory

WORCESTER, Mass., March 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul® will soon offer a 1,200-room self-storage facility at 44 Hammond St. thanks to the recent acquisition of the historic Melville Shoe Corp.

U-Haul Moving & Storage at University Square will open its retail showroom in April and offer truck and trailer sharing, U-Box® portable storage containers, moving supplies and more.

U-Haul acquired the vacant 180,480-square-foot four-story building in 2018. When renovations are done, the property will feature about 1,200 indoor self-storage units with high-tech security features, climate-control options and affordable pricing.

Contact U-Haul Moving & Storage at University Square at (508) 762-1257 or stop by to see our progress. Hours of operation will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Reserve equipment at uhaul.com or contact Reservations at 1-800-GO-UHAUL.

"This building is full of history and character," said Jerry Ouellette, U-Haul Company of Western Massachusetts and Vermont president. "We are honored to clean up the property and bring our services to this side of Worcester. Preserving the history in this area is important to us. We know the community will love the finished product."

Ouellette expects to hire a staff of 15 or more Team Members when the store is fully operational. U-Haul will look to hire locally to promote job growth in Worcester. U-Haul always encourages local contractors to bid on renovation work.

The building was constructed in 1928 and served as the Melville Shoe Corp. manufacturing plant. Melville Shoe Corp. was once the country's largest shoe retailer. More than 600 stores were supplied with shoes from the Worcester warehouse.

"This building has sat vacant for 18 years, and U-Haul is excited to breathe life back into it," Ouellette added. "This is a prime location. The city doesn't deserve to have it sit empty and become an eyesore. Renovating this property will benefit the entire area."

Acquisition of the property was driven by U-Haul Corporate Sustainability initiatives: U-Haul supports infill developments to help local communities lower their carbon footprint. Our adaptive reuse of existing buildings reduces the amount of energy and resources required for new-building materials and helps cities reduce their unwanted inventory of unused buildings.

This is the third U-Haul-owned and -operated store in Worcester (and the 58th U-Haul store in Massachusetts). There are also two independent small business operating as U-Haul dealers in Worcester: Metrowest Auto Sales and Service, and Worcester Self Storage Downtown.

The arrival of U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 is revolutionizing the moving industry through its more convenient, more secure way to pick up and return a truck. U-Haul live verification technology allows rental transactions to be carried out entirely on a smartphone at any hour – day or night. There are no membership fees. Simply visit uhaul.com to create an online account.

About U-Haul

Since 1945, U-Haul has been the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers, with a network of more than 21,000 locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 now offers customers access to U-Haul trucks every hour of every day through the self-service options on their internet-connected mobile devices. U-Haul customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 161,000 trucks, 118,000 trailers and 42,000 towing devices. U-Haul offers nearly 632,000 rooms and 55.2 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities throughout North America. U-Haul is the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry and is the largest retailer of propane in the U.S.

Contact:

Andrea Batchelor
Jeff Lockridge
E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-263-6981
Website: uhaul.com

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SOURCE U-Haul