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Self Storage!

Self Storage Joke

The house in Brooklyn Park, Minn., where Mike Coffin lives is tidy, he says. But a self-storage unit that he has rented for the past seven years? Not so much.

With nine fishing nets scattered about, a broken TV, toilet repair kits and an old can of Comet cleanser, his 10- by 30-foot space in Blaine, Minn., has become a dumping ground for things he doesn’t want to throw away, but doesn’t need at the moment.

The majority of stuff I would never use, I don’t even know why I kept it. But I’ve got places to put it, so I just don’t do anything with it, Coffin said. It’s just a black hole that you can throw things into and never have to deal with them anymore.

The self-storage business is booming even as American houses get bigger and families get smaller. And a lot of that has to do with people like Coffin, who want less clutter in their living spaces but can’t seem to part with their stuff.

In Minnesota, locally owned Acorn Mini Storage has expanded its space by an average of 10 percent each year for the past five years and now offers a half-million square feet of storage, said Ellis Gottlieb, vice president of planning and development.

Meanwhile, Storage Mart, a national company, entered the Minnesota market a year ago by opening 40,000 square feet of space in Hopkins, and is looking to add more, as are other companies.

Then there’s this remarkable fact: It took more than 25 years, starting in the early 1970s, for the first 1 billion square feet of storage to be built in the United States, according to the Self Storage Association, an industry group. The second billion square feet was added in about eight years after that.

We’re the super-sized nation now where there is literally the buy-one-get-one-free or buy-one-get-one-50-percent-off, said Laura Leist, a professional organizer who does seminars for the retailer Ikea. And people think that because they’re getting it at such a deal, you know, you might as well buy more.

Most people who need storage space are in a life transition moving or getting married or divorced, industry officials say. Businesses are also turning to mini-storage to keep records and inventory, from Sheetrock to vintage items they can sell on eBay.

But some people just want more room to put things in and close the door.

Some say they are finding storage lots so convenient they will probably keep using them for the rest of their lives, regardless of how many closets or garage stalls they have at home.

People are a lot like snakes: You grow into the size of your cage, said Casey Deedon, who rents a storage space because he, his wife and child are outgrowing their Chaska, Minn., townhouse.

The storage space, where they’re stashing outgrown baby toys and clothes, extra golf clubs and Christmas decorations, is allowing them to put off buying a bigger home, he said. I am extremely glad that I have it, Deedon said.

Storage units also can create more domestic harmony.

I like clean lines and not cluttered. But my husband also likes not throwing anything out, said St. Paul, Minn., resident Kelly Finstrom, who rents a storage space near the house they share with their four children. Their organized unit contains her husband’s model train collection, scrap lumber, paycheck stubs and receipts from hotels and things they’ve bought.

She and her husband joke about it, she said. I said when you die, I’m going to bury you with all your crap.

Though the family is planning to move to South Dakota, Finstrom said she and her husband will probably rent a space there, too, no matter how big their house.

It makes us much happier, she said. It helps our marriage quite a bit that I don’t have to see it.

Leist, the professional organizer, said storage units can be helpful if they’re used for the right reasons: things that have a monetary value that people will use again or use seasonally, for instance. But she said she also sees a lot of clients using storage to put off making decisions on whether to keep stuff or get rid of it.

Some have a fear of letting things go, said Leist, who has written a book about organizing. They feel that, you know, they spent good money on it, they might need it someday, they don’t have a place to store it in their home, and so the next best solution is to get a public storage facility.

Who has empty drawers? said Jody Lee, an Acorn Mini Storage facility manager in Chaska.

Coffin’s storage space has become a joke among his friends. He rented it originally after a tree fell on a vacation mobile home and he needed a place to store what was there. He has kept it ever since. He offers to store things for friends. And while he keeps a canoe and a kayak and a few other higher-value items in the unit, he says most of what’s in there isn’t worth keeping.

It’s really embarrassing, he said. It’s junk.

But when he buys things such as Styrofoam minnow buckets, he doesn’t throw them away, he says, because he can put them in storage.

It’s just too much work to get rid of it, he said. You quit renting the storage unit, now you have to rent a Dumpster.

Self Storage

Self storage facilities are businesses composed of real estate or personal property cargo transit containers divided into self storage spaces that are rented to rental space tenants on a monthly basis.

Self Storage Description

Example of a modern, urban, self storage facility.The term "self storage" is short for "self-service storage", and is also known as "mini storage" or "mini warehouse" (archaic). Self storage facilities lease space to individuals, usually storing household goods, or to small businesses, usually storing excess inventory or archived records. The rented spaces, known as "units", are secured by the tenant's own lock and key. Facility operators do not have casual access to the contents of the space unlike a professional warehouseman. A self storage operator never takes possession, care, custody or control of the contents of the storage rental space unless a lien is imposed as provided in self storage laws for non-payment of rent. Self storage facility operators usually provide computer-controlled access to rental space areas and many use security cameras.

Self Storage today

About 50,000 Self Storage facilities have been developed in the United States on industrial and commercial land parcels, usually on three- to seven-acre properties. More recently, in many metropolitan cities where competition among storage companies is fierce, better parcels of land near residential and commercial areas are being converted into self-storage. Moving trucks and vans may be also be available for rent when the facility includes a truck rental franchise. A few storage facilities allow the use of a truck for free or even send a truck to your nearby home or business as a move-in promotion.

Self storage businesses lease a variety of unit sizes to residential and business customer/tenants. Popular unit sizes include 10x5 (10 feet wide by 5 feet deep) which is about the size of a large walk-in closet, 10x10 (the size of a child's bedroom), 10x20 (one-car garage), 15x20 and 20x20 (two-car garage). The storage units are typically windowless, walled with corrugated metal, and lockable by the renter. Chain-link fencing or wire mesh may function as a more secure ceiling than a suspended ceiling. Each unit is usually accessed by opening a roll-up metal door, which is usually about the same size as a one-car garage door. A controlled access facility may employ security guards, surveillance cameras, individual unit door alarms and some means of electronic gate access such as a keypad or prox card. A few facilities even use biometric thumbprint or hand scanners to ensure that access is granted only to those that rent.

In rural and suburban areas most facilities contain multiple single-story buildings with mostly drive-up units having natural ventilation, but which are not climate-controlled. These buildings are referred to as "traditional". Climate-controlled interior units are becoming more popular in suburban areas. In urban areas many facilities have multi-story buildings using elevators or freight lifts to move the goods to the upper floors. These facilities are often climate-controlled since they have mostly, if not all, interior units. Warehouses or grocery stores are sometimes converted into self storage facilities. Loading docks are sometimes provided on the ground floor. Also, complimentary rolling carts or moving dollies are sometimes provided to help the customers carry items to their units. Urban self storage facilities might contain only a few floors in a much larger building; there are successful self storage businesses cohabiting with light manufacturing, office tenants and even a public school.

The most current industry surveys indicate that 44% of renters are consumers who are moving from one home to another, 31% need more space than is in their homes, 7% are students or military, and 18% are businesses.

Customers are generally allowed to store any non-hazardous, non-toxic, non-perishable material in the facility: personal items, furniture, motorcycles, overstocked retail wares, etc. Customers are prohibited from sleeping or otherwise living in the room. If the customer fails to pay the rent, a lien is placed on the customer's goods and they are sold at auction. The storage facility lien rights are codified in most states. The customer is still responsible for any rent and fees due if the auction does not clear their balance. (i.e California Self-Service Storage Facility Act, Business & Professions code Sec 21700 et seq.)

Many national & state trade associations were formed in the mid 1970's. www.selfstorage.org is the official web site of the Self Storage Association.

Self Storage worldwide

According to a report (1st June 2006) by Mintel Consulting and in collaboration with the Self Storage Association of the United Kingdom space available for rental in the USA is approximately 1.6 billion rentable square feet, against 22 million rentable square feet in Australasia and around 20 million in the United Kingdom. The report also states that there are around 41000 facilities in the USA, 1000 in Austalasia and around 600 in the United Kingdom.

Self Storage Portable

Portable storage companies supply storage containers for use in storage and moving residential goods. Portable storage containers and company delivery trucks are personal property, not "real estate" property, the definition of self storage facilities in state self storage facility acts. It is a new concept where rented storage "pods" or containers are delivered to the customer's residence and the customer loads and packs rather than company workers. The unit can then be left there or delivered to a central warehouse for later customer access and/or return. It is safer and more private than conventional self storage and the client can load or unload at their leisure. Climate controlled units are available. This type of a storage container is developed for self storage depots and moving companies.

Self Storage Climate-controlled storage and cold storage

Public Storage indoor storage in Scottsdale, AZ.Some facilities are climate controlled to prevent mold or mildew and other moisture problems. Humidity control is more important for storage than temperature control. A common setting for the facility humidistat is a maximum relative humidity of 50%, while a common temperature range for the thermostat is 50 to 80 degrees. A few facilities have even added areas for self storage of goods with special needs, such as wine.

A cold storage facility provides rooms with very low temperature suitable for the storage of perishable items like meat and vegetables. Many of these are left over from the days when most freight was shipped via railroad; with the advent of refrigerated trucking, door-to-door cold transportation became common.

Self Storage Auctions

In the United States, most self storage facilities hold storage auctions or lien sales to vacate non-paying tenants according to their enforcement rights that are outlined within the laws of each state. In The United States there are 40,000 plus self storage facilities, out of these 40,000 plus self storage facilities there are an average 15,000 facilities that will hold a storage auction or lien sale in any given month. Each site will have a different amount of units or lots to offer for auction. These auctions are opened to the general public with most bidders’ buying for the purpose of reselling for profit. Storage auctions are a great way to buy secondhand merchandise for pennies on the wholesale dollar. If you are someone who sells at flea markets, garage sales or on e-Bay, you will probably find storage auctions to be one of your best sources for merchandise.

Self Storage As part of another business

Less formal public storage might be a found in locker rooms, cloak rooms, left luggage areas, bicycle lockers, train stations, amusement parks (especially water parks), and airports. It is of note though that since 9/11, storage in these small kiosks is no longer allowed at American airports, per federal law. There may be an attendant or an automated vending machine to collect the fee and control access, or it may simply require dropping a few coins into a slot to allow a key to be removed locking a compartment. At a swimming pool or sauna the key will be attached to a wrist or ankle strap. These types of storage are typically not related to a distinct self-storage business, being rather ancillary services provided as part of another business.