ART WORLD NEWS
Rival Art Storage Firms Crozier and UOVO Announce Separate Expansions
The art storage and services industry may be at the beginning of a major consolidation phase if this week’s news is any indication—and the industry roll-up is being led by two firms grounded in New York. London’s Martinspeed announced yesterday that it would be acquired by Crozier. Today, Queens-based UOVO, Crozier’s outer-borough rival, announces that it has purchased Museo Vault in Miami.
Museo Vault’s 90,000 square feet of storage split between two facilities in South Florida—one in Miami and the other in West Palm Beach—is serviced by a fleet of five transport vehicles and includes a Wynwood district viewing room along with an in-house crating shop.
Related Articles
Over the next year, UOVO will be connecting its four New York-area storage centers—including the flagship in Long Island City and one in Bushwick—with another location in Delaware and an additional purpose-built warehouse breaking ground in Palm Beach this Spring to Museo Vault’s South Florida capacity. The resulting company will operate a network of 840,000 square feet of art and collectible storage stretching across the Eastern Seaboard.
In South Florida, UOVO is taking care to guard valuable objects against the ravages of climate change. It’s Wynwood structure is 18 feet above sea level and designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Crozier’s acquisition of Martinspeed allows the firm to dramatically expand its foot print in London where Martinspeed has a strong client base. Beyond that, Martinspeed provides a keystone in Crozier’s international expansion. Backed by Iron Mountain, Crozier has been creating a network of art storage and logistics firms across Europe and the US.
Martinspeed will allow Crozier to provide clients with a “a trans-Atlantic platform for full-service storage, logistics, and transport and extend support for existing European operations and capabilities in Zurich and Geneva.”
With key locations in Central London and near Heathrow Airport, Martinspeed will allow Crozier “to operate as an international transit hub where it has complete in-house control of a fully Brexit-compliant customs process.”
