What is short term warehouse storage?
Short term warehouse storage is space in a working warehouse that you use for weeks or months, without committing to a multi-year lease. You send the inventory, the warehouse receives it and stores it, and you call it back when you need it. At Alvy Logistics that means a 58,000 sq ft ambient, dry warehouse in Valencia, in north Los Angeles County, on terms that are not annual-only.
It is not self-storage. This is business inventory in a commercial warehouse, received, counted and released by warehouse staff, with stock visible in the Logiwa client portal.
When do businesses need temporary warehouse storage?
- Overflow. Your own building is full, and the extra stock needs somewhere to go until it sells down.
- Seasonal peaks. Inventory builds ahead of a busy season and needs space for a few months, not a year.
- Relocations and lease gaps. Your business is changing buildings, renovating, or waiting for a new lease to start.
- Project staging. Fixtures, furniture and materials wait until a site is ready. See hospitality and FF&E logistics for how that works on hotel and commercial projects.
- Excess inventory. An oversized buy, a discontinued line or returned stock needs to leave your working space while you decide what to do with it.
Overflow storage or dedicated space?
These are two different arrangements, and we will tell you which one fits rather than selling you the bigger one.
| Overflow storage | Dedicated space | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is billed | For the inventory actually in the building | Monthly on the footprint held for you |
| Starting at | $25 per pallet per month | $2.50 per sq ft per month |
| Best for | Stock levels that rise and fall | A fixed area you want held for the whole term |
| Between shipments | Less stock here means a smaller bill | The space stays held for you |
Dedicated space is billed for however long the agreed term runs, because the point is that the footprint is yours. If paying only for what you are using suits your inventory better, overflow storage by the pallet is the answer. Our pallet storage page has the full per-pallet rate breakdown and the cost formula.
How much does short term warehouse space cost?
| Request | How it is priced | Starting at |
|---|---|---|
| 20 pallets of seasonal stock for 3 months | 20 x $25 x 3, plus $12 in and $12 out per pallet | $1,980 |
| A 1,000 sq ft footprint held for 3 months | 1,000 x $2.50 x 3, plus handling | $7,500 plus handling |
| A floor-loaded 40 ft container of overflow | Unloading quoted per container, then storage per pallet | Quoted, plus storage from $25 per pallet |
If stock needs relabeling or rework while it is here, that is special project labor from $38 an hour. Send the pallet count and your dates for a written quote that lists each charge before the stock arrives.
How much warehouse space do I need?
Count pallets first, then convert. Each 48 by 40 inch pallet takes a little over 13 square feet of floor on its own. Product that can be floor-stacked two high needs half the floor per pallet, while product that cannot take weight needs a rack position. A held footprint also has to leave room to walk, lift and stage around the stock, so plan on more square feet than the pallets alone. Send us the pallet count, dimensions, weights and whether the product stacks, and we will work out the space with you.
Excess inventory, long term warehouse storage and dead storage
Some stock is not short term at all. Dead storage is inventory that will not move for months: slow sellers, last season’s goods, spare parts or display fixtures between campaigns. It still needs a dry, organized place to sit, but it should not take up your working space. Long term storage uses the same building and the same billing by the pallet or the footprint.
Getting inventory in and out
Pallets are counted in against your packing list from $12 per pallet. When you need stock back, it goes out from $12 per pallet: to your own carrier at our dock, on a local box truck delivery with Alvy as the carrier, or as LTL or truckload beyond Southern California, arranged through Accurate Freight Systems LLC, the licensed property broker in our group.
If a short lease of your own is the other option on the table, 3PL vs own warehouse runs the numbers side by side. For a price, send what the product is, how many pallets or square feet, and the start and end dates. A coordinator answers (661) 344-8766 from 8am to 8pm Pacific on weekdays, or you can request a quote online and get it in writing.
Short-term space is one of several warehousing services run from the same building.
