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The weekend not only has filled my inbox with emails about construction budgets and moving services, but also newsletters that I don’t remember subscribing to, and spam and more spam… I’m already exhausted and it’s only the beginning of the week.

Every day more than 160 billion unsolicited emails are sent, which represents almost half of all emails sent daily. In the midst of so much information, I can’t focus on the essentials. I don’t like complications, I like things to be transparent. Maybe that’s why I appreciate more and more the work done by KUBOO.

I’ve been a KUBOO customer for 6 months, ever since I started renovating my apartment in Almada. When I call KUBOO’s reception, Sara always remembers me and answers my questions on the spot. I’m not talking to a robot, it’s a real person! She doesn’t try to sell any extra services, she’s simply there to listen and to help me. Straight to the point, without beating around the bush. And if I send an email, Sara replies as soon as she can, with the same friendliness as she does on the phone.

I signed up for a 6-month prepayment, with a 5% discount on the value of my Kuboo. Everything was paid upfront and throughout this time I didn’t receive any emails trying to sell me anything else. Yesterday I called Sara and asked to renew the rental for another 6 months. A quick, friendly, and super efficient call. I wish everything in life were that simple.

We seem to spend our lives thinking about our problems and how to solve them. KUBOO doesn’t take up much space in my head, it’s not a problem. But when I want to solve a problem, KUBOO is the solution. I have had a few setbacks with my renovations, delays and lack of material. But if anything is going well during this whole process, it is the self-storage solution I chose half a year ago. I really feel that when the work is finished, part of my house will still be at KUBOO in Seixal. It’s perhaps the most important “work” I’ve made to date: the extension of my home to KUBOO.

She: Mine was kuboo 2321, a mini-storage with 2sqm on the second floor. His unit was the one in front of mine. Inside, it looked like a studio but it was as messy as you’d expect a man to be. There were boxes, blankets and canvases everywhere, cans of paint, bags, endless junk in need to be decluttered.

He: At least once or twice a week, we’d cross paths in the KUBOO corridor, always in the late afternoon. A shy smile was all I’d gotten from her so far. Not that I’d tried very hard or anything, but she aroused a different kind of curiosity.

She: He usually carried boxes and cases in and out of his kuboo, always apologizing for the inconvenience and the noise… I didn’t mind, in a way it was a companion, it reminded me that my kuboo neighbor was there.

He: One day I saw her struggling to put together one of those shelves they sell here at KUBOO and I decided to offer her a hand. We started chatting and I helped her with more than just the shelf… and I realized that she had also helped me, without even knowing it.

We ended up unintentionally storing each other’s baggage.

One thing led to another and we were still talking when Bela from reception came to do her round before closing the store. We had no idea the time had passed.

She: Fortunately, KUBOO has 24-hour access, so we were able to spend some more time talking together.

When my stomach started to growl, I invited him to dinner. I still had a lot of packing to do, but I think we both eventually made space for a new beginning.

We were Kuboo neighbors…and we still are, friends friends, kuboos aside.

Ricardo helped the shop team prepare the welcome kits given to customers when they move in, prepared part of a warehouse to store the set for a theater play, and registered every door in need of a little care.

With the marketing guys, he collected photographic material and accompanied the expansion work at the Carcavelos/Abóboda warehouse, helping enormously to put up essential signage for the new floors to open on time. He also gave a helping hand to the maintenance team who taught him the basic tricks and with whom he painted part of the walls on site. The Carcavelos/Abóboda facility is currently one of the largest self-storage warehouses in Portugal, well marked and thought out in detail!

Ricardo also had the opportunity to volunteer at the Sol Fraterno association, a social solidarity institution friend of ours, which is KUBOO’s neighbor just 5 minutes away from the Carnaxide warehouse. One of KUBOO’s many social solidarity partners.

Among other conditions, Ricardo has autism. He’s a student at IPEIP-As Descobertas, an educational and charitable institution, friend and partner of KUBOO, located in Belém, 5 minutes away from our Carnaxide warehouse.

KUBOO and IPEIP have collaborated on several occasions, having found a positive space to develop advantageous initiatives for the students and the community. For a long time, the two parties had been discussing the possibility of creating a bridge in the pedagogical field by hosting a student at KUBOO to practice and develop social and vocational skills.

Ricardo came as a trainee and left as a friend. Every day began with a powerful ‘Good morning!’ and ended with a heartfelt ‘See you next week!’ The ‘smile’ was a constant during the days Ricardo spent with us.

We miss him!

I was in a long moving process, emptying my deceased uncle’s apartment, the place where I spent most of my childhood, near Carcavelos beach. My uncle was my closest relative, my safe space.

Long weeks of separating in boxes what to keep and what to give, carrying furniture and home appliances down the stairs, and stressing because that’s what these movings do to us. Torn because I wanted to store some of my uncle’s things close to me, but had little available space in my house.

She used to be seated on a yellow bench at the park near my uncle’s place everyday after lunch. Always reading a different book. I recall Iliad, The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost.

She didn’t have the look of an epic literature enthusiast but, who does? And, how did that lady have enough headspace for such daily readings?

On my final day of moving things, while carrying out the very last few boxes, I found the guts I had stored deep inside and asked my questions.

She smiled. Told me about KUBOO and the ease such Self-Storage brought upon her daily routine.

I knew I had to know more, not just about her, but about this KUBOO and what they were doing to simplify her life. So I invited her for a coffee.

The rest is history. Or as we like to call it, our own epic narrative.

I guess in some way Dante was right and the path to Paradise really does begin in Hell, but if you’re lucky enough to end up at KUBOO, the path to Paradise is secured.

Not to decide which is the Best Self-Storage, we all know which is the most beloved. But to give space to the football party.

Fans from all over the continent take their jerseys, scarves, hats and flags out of their closets and storage rooms, pack their bags and travel behind their national team in the hope of returning after one full month defending their colors. But I can tell you right now that there will never be a yellow like “ours”.

The favorite teams, of course, always carry the heaviest baggage, a fair load for those who have cabinets full of trophies and cups. There’s also room for the underdogs who win the hearts of even the biggest opponents!

From the goalkeeper to the striker, without ever forgetting that box – to – box midfielder who’s a joy to watch and who carries the ball forward, a bit like KUBOO does in his own game, everyone wants to win with their country’s shirt. Go into space and come back with a shot, an in-extremis tackle or that save that’s worth a goal.

I hope there are Self-Storages out there doing promotions like KUBOO does. I know that our spacious, clean and secure lockers would come in handy for a lot of people during this football festival. Especially since they’re at the friendliest price on the market (more would be left for the beer) and they’re even available for weekly rentals (useful for teams and fans who have to pack their things and go home early).

I suppose there’s enough room for so many people and so much luggage, but I’m sure there’s no space like the one at KUBOO. When they hold a European Championship in Portugal again, we’ll have a word or two to say.

Easy to tell he’s just another landlord with limited space in his brain, but it’s ok.

Took a deep breath, packed my stuff and went to classes at NOVA SBE in Carcavelos. Fairly close to the flat in São Domingos de Rana i was about to empty and leave.

Summer was about to start, it’s almost time to come back to Pampilhosa, and nothing worried me. I mean, I had just this thing occupying my mental space- what would I do with my stuff, furniture, crockery, books, etc. during the months to come? Bringing them home with me was out of the question, also selling them was a no go, as I would need them again in September.

A few days later, while having coffee at Uni, a friend told me she was going to Riga in September for Erasmus, very excited and with a semester of trips already planned. Given that she also lives in a rented apartment, I mentioned my space issue and asked what she was gonna do with her things since she would be away from Lisbon for so long.

“I’ll store it all in a Kuboo!” she answered, as if my question had been the most unreasonable of the week- “It’s simple and pretty close here from NOVA, and they have friendly prices for us students!”. “At least somebody thinks of us”, I sighed.

I ended up making a visit to KUBOO Carcavelos/ Abóboda and was astonished, it had nothing to do with what we see in movies. I was greeted with a smile and a chupa-chups. The air is light in this warehouse. I even crossed paths with other people from University in the hallways. Apparently there’s more University students leaving their things in a self-storage during the months they’re away. And I became another!

Thank you KUBOO, a yellow-doored mini-storage just 10 minutes away from Carcavelos came in very handy.

For many years, I was as a pendulum: centered in Lisbon, balancing between the North and the South of Portugal, from the coast to the interior, helping those who needed the most, as I was able to.

I had a small storage, more pantry than garage, where I kept storing and accumulating things until it justified the trip.

Then I’d drive off in my father’s old red wine coloured Corolla and distribute the material in boxes to the Institutions and Solidarity centers with which I made friends along the way.

Now I’m old and tired, have a family and a small farm to care for. I stick to Lisbon.

“Those who give what they have, to more aren’t obliged”

A few weeks ago, one of my nieces came home radiant because “a cube” had prepared a morning of games and activities for the children at her daughter’s school.

As it turns out, this “cube” is actually “a KUBOO”.

A KUBOO which apparently, besides activity days, organizes blood and goods collection campaigns, supports kids’ sports teams, artists and musicians, and even plants trees on behalf of its customers.

And the most curious thing of all? KUBOO’s business is space rental, or as they call them, Kuboos! Small Kuboos, bigger Kuboos, with light, 24 hour access, clean and bug free… perhaps in my heydays of traveling and running around I would have been a part of KUBOO too.

I’m a visual artist and sometimes work confines me to my own space, a small atelier in the garage at home invented from a mess of trunks, shelves and boxes of memories that, for a long time, I didn’t want to store away from home.

In fact, I spent a lot of time in the garage, even when I wasn’t working, going through photo albums, old collections and my father’s belongings, my way of staying close to him.

A while ago my daughter had a health complication and needed to receive some blood transfusions. This made me re-evaluate a large part of my life.

After what happened, I decided to store some of the garage stuff in a mini-storage unit and turn it into a space where my little girl could play to her heart’s content, so that we could also spend more time together.

In my search for storage solutions in the Lisbon area, I came across KUBOO Self-Storage in Carnaxide, quite close to my home, so I decided to pay them a visit.

What was my surprise when, on arriving at the facility, I saw that KUBOO was organizing a blood donation and bone marrow donors registering campaign – I doubt there’s another self-storage in Portugal doing this. It seemed like fate, so I couldn’t stay inside my box any longer!

That same day, I became a client of KUBOO and made the first blood donation of my life! After all, one unit of donated blood is just 400ml that can make a huge difference.

I recently found out that this KUBOO campaign won a social responsibility award, a well-deserved honor for such a noble initiative.

Congratulations KUBOO!

At times, sailors would venture the unknown oceans with no promise of return just for the sake of finding a new world, a space where lands grew different trees, animals grew bigger sizes and people dedicated themselves to new unknown arts and crafts.

Those able to make it back, would arrive stacked with all sorts of new items, spices, textiles and a bunch of useless stuff. Although, decluttering was pretty easy as these last ones were different from most things people had seen at the time, so clearing space was no issue.

Particular and special objects require different care, as you wouldn’t store a roll of cloth that traveled for months through storms and disease in a humid garage or some unsafe storage.

KUBOO came to life as a different storage solution. The idea also had to travel for long months, wander through storms and overcome giant waves. Made from people who see the world differently, for people who see their belongings different from banal things.

“Was it worth doing? Everything’s worth doing if one’s soul isn’t small.”

Nothing but respect for the sea, belief in a group of people and opportunity, brought KUBOO Self-Storage and SailCascais together, for a season of conquests with space for always one more victory.

That’s how Rui, Henrique, Luís and Francisco ended up wearing KUBOO’s colors, sailing the waters of Cascais and being crowned THE FIRST EVER PORTUGUESE J70 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS.

Congratulations to the whole KUBOO Sailing Team and all SailCascais team for a great year!

As Pessoa once asserted, danger and the abyss were placed in the sea, but it was also made into heaven’s mirror.