FAST vs PSA Comparison

Fastenal began as an industrial retailer, expanding its product portfolio from nuts and bolts to cutting tools, safety equipment, and janitorial supplies. It transitioned into a distributor by building out a dense network of branches close to its business customers. Once a customer becomes large enough, Fastenal installs vending machines and its own personnel on-site. Today, these on-site locations exceed Fastenal's branch count and remain the firm's main focus for expansion. Fastenal acts as a one-stop outsourcing partner for its industrial customers, offering value-added services along with a wide breadth of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies.

Public Storage is the largest owner of self-storage facilities in the US, with more than 3,500 self-storage facilities in 40 states and approximately 259 million square feet of rentable space. Through equity interests, it also has exposure to the European self-storage market through Shurgard Self Storage. The company also has a merchandise business, a third-party property management business, and an insurance business that offers products to cover losses for the goods in self-storage facilities.