Relocating a Small Warehouse or Store Room: Racking and Stock Counts

The landlord has given you until the end of the month. Your store room holds shelving, cartons stacked to the ceiling, a few pallets, a trolley with one bad wheel and stock that your shop is still selling from. Moving it all is not hard. Moving it all without losing track of what you own is where businesses struggle.

This guide is for small warehouses, store rooms and stockrooms: the kind that a truck or two can clear in a day or two. Larger sites need more planning than a blog post can cover.

Start with a count, not a truck

Before you request anything, count what you have. A rough count is enough to choose a vehicle, but a proper count protects you later.

1. Walk the room with a notebook or phone and list each product line and the number of cartons or bags.
2. Note anything that is damaged, expired or not selling. Moving dead stock costs money for no reason. Sell it, return it or dispose of it first.
3. List the fittings: shelving units, racks, pallets, trolleys, desks and any cabinets.
4. Note weights where you can. Bags of rice or cement and cartons of tinned goods are far heavier than they look.

Keep this list. You will check against it at the new space.

Dismantle racking the right way

Racking and shelving are the awkward part. Before you take anything apart:

• Empty every shelf first. Never lift or unbolt a loaded rack.
• Photograph the rack as assembled so you can rebuild it.
• Put all bolts, clips and brackets in a labelled bag and tape it to the matching upright.
• Wrap sharp metal edges with cardboard or old cloth to protect hands and the vehicle.
• Stack long uprights and beams flat and tie them together so they cannot slide.

If your racking is a heavy-duty type, follow the manufacturer's guidance for taking it down. If you are not sure, ask a person who knows the system rather than guessing.

Label cartons by destination, not by contents alone

Labels should tell the person at the new space where each carton goes. A simple code works: Zone A, Zone B, Fast sellers, Slow sellers, Fragile. Write on two sides of each carton, not just the top, because tops get covered.

Keep fast-moving stock separate. You will want to open it first, and you may want to keep selling from it during the move.

Plan the load order

Load in the reverse of what you want to unload.

1. Racking and heavy fittings first, flat against the headboard or floor.
2. Heavy cartons and bags next, in a stable base.
3. Lighter cartons on top, never above the height you can secure.
4. Fragile and high-value stock last, close to the door and easy to count.

Strap everything down. For help on this, see our guide on securing a load with straps, ropes and tarpaulins. If the move might hit rain, cover the stock properly before leaving.

Ready to move?

Request a truck or van on Sphere

Choose your vehicle, propose your price, and verified drivers in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan accept or send a counter-offer.

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Choose the vehicle by the load

Sphere lists pickup vans for loads up to 2,400kg and trucks up to 27,000kg. A small store room of cartons and light shelves often fits in a pickup van across two trips. Heavy bagged goods, long racking or a full warehouse clear-out is usually a truck job. If you are unsure, our guide on choosing the right truck size walks through it.

Tell drivers about access at both ends. A loading dock is easy. A first-floor store with a narrow staircase is a different job.

Do a handover count at the new space

When the truck arrives, do not just unload. Count. Have one person at the tailgate with the list and one person inside putting cartons in the labelled zones. If something is missing or damaged, note it at once, with a photo, and talk to the driver while they are still there. Our guide on what to do when a move goes wrong explains how to handle it calmly.

Only after the count do you sign off the move in your own notes. Rebuild racking before stacking stock on the floor if you can.

Keep trading while you move

If the shop cannot close, move in stages. Move slow sellers and fittings first, and move fast sellers last, on the final trip. Our weekly guide on restocking your shop in Lagos shows how to keep stock flowing, and the same habit helps during a move.

How to do this on Sphere

1. Open the Sphere app and choose a pickup van or truck for your load.
2. Add the pickup and drop-off locations and note the access at each end.
3. Describe the load: number of cartons, bags and pallets, plus racking and fittings.
4. Propose your price. Nearby verified drivers accept it or send a counter-offer.
5. Agree loading and offloading help with the driver before you accept an offer, then choose the one that suits you.

More on this in our business moves in Lagos page.