Quote unquote: words of wisdom about self storage

Much has been written about the self storage industry. Here are some ‘sound bites’ that encapsulate an essential truth about self storage and attendant issues, such as decluttering.

We can’t store husbands…

“We can’t store your kids; we can store their toys. We can’t store your fish; we can store his bowl. We can’t store beehives; we can store archives. We can’t store your wife; we can store her shoes. We can’t store husbands; we can store their tools.”

A witty approach from the website of Storagebase Self Storage, www.storagebase.co.uk

The storage cure

“Being in self-storage is like being a doctor. People come to you and you do your best to help. Individuals will resort to self-storage when their lives are in flux, and their possessions are unable to keep up with them.”

Kate Worsley, paraphrasing the wisdom of a self storage manager, in her article entitled “Interiors: A Space of My Own”, The Independent, 18 October 1998

Music to our ears?

“Living space has shrunk, recession-struck businesses have downsized, but we are still incorrigible land grabbers at heart, comforted by the idea of a room of one’s own, and willing to pay for it. The self-storage industry has grown rich on the impulse, and, in America, where self-storage first emerged in the 1960s, the industry now out-earns the music business.”

Tom Lamont, in his article entitled “Chamber of Secrets”, The Observer, 29 November 2009

Working for their money

“I’ve visited hundreds of storage facilities across the United States and Canada and seen a few that were doing so well they may as well have had an extension of the U.S. Mint in the back room cranking out dollar bills. But those kinds of stores are the exception, not the rule. … The owner who wants to build a facility today should beware the lure of the ‘cash cow’. Frankly, it’s a load of bull.”

Kent Flake, of Sure Storage USA, in his article entitled “Seven Self-Storage Construction Myths”, published in the ISS (Indie Self-Storage) Factbook, 2010.

The ultimate dangers of clutter

“A lot of people are messy. Where it becomes a problem is when the person is not just messy, but impaired by their clutter. When significant portions of a home cannot be used for the purpose intended, the person’s quality of life is dramatically reduced.”

David Tolin, founder of America’s Anxiety Disorder Centre at Hartford Hospital’s Institute of Living, Connecticut, USA. Quoted by Karen Krizanovich in her article entitled “Health: Why a spring clean is good for you”, The Telegraph, 7 April 2008.

Even Chatsworth has storage limitations

Decluttering has come even to Chatsworth, the Derbyshire home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, and one of the grandest of the stately homes of Britain:

“ ‘When we came here, we looked at every space we had in the building and that confirmed what we really already knew, that the storage space we had was not fit for purpose and that there was just not enough of it,’ explains the Duke. The solution is the ‘attic sale’ [October 2010], which has taken the best part of a year and a half to plan with Sotheby’s.”

Susan Moore, in her article entitled “Chatsworth’s attic sale”, The Financial Times, 17 July 2010.

The power of inertia

“Williams [Steve Williams, CEO of Safestore] says many of his customers are like … people who keep paying out direct debits for gym memberships even though they no longer go. Ending a storage contract is even harder, ‘because you need to put a day aside to go in and clear the stuff out. People just never get round to it.’ ”

Damian Whitworth, in his article entitled “Self-storage units: not just anonymous lock-ups”, The Times, 21 November 2009

Self storage: a philosophical take

Here is a meditation on the term ‘self storage’, from a novel that is about a woman who makes a living from auctions of abandoned goods at self storage facilities:

“When you see the term ‘Self Storage’ all the time, you can’t help but start to think about it. You wonder things like where, exactly, is the self stored? Is it in the heart? The head? The pelvis? Is it something that billows through us like a ghost?”

Gayle Brandeis, “Self Storage: A Novel”, Ballantine Books, New York, 2007