Last week I promised that I would tell you where we keep all the stuff we buy but don’t need. According to the Self Storage Association (SSA, 2011), the storage unit industry has been among the fastest growing segment of the US commercial real estate industry for the past 35 years. Oh, if I only would have invested in storage units (I rented a few) in the early 1980s I’d have it made.
In 1984, there were 6,601 US storage unit facilities with 289.7 million square feet of rental storage space. By the conclusion of 2010, the number of storage units had mushroomed to an incredible 46,500 storage facilities with 2.4 billion square feet of rentable space.
Approximately one of every ten households in the US currently has rental storage space. In 1995, only 6 percent of the US households had rental storage units – an increase of 65 percent in about 15 years. According to the SSA, there is enough storage unit space for every person in the US (including babies and members of the Tea Party) to stand under (at the same time) the “total canopy of self-storage roofing”.
And, our love of stuff doesn’t end with merely renting storage units to keep all of our treasures. We can also watch what happens when we forget about all of our storage unit goodies. Spike TV’s “Auction Hunters” storage auction reality show profiles people who bid on storage units that have been forgotten by their owners. So, what’s the catch? The bidders don’t know what’s in the units. We have so much stuff that we simply forget about it. Although many of us have not gone so far as to forget we have a storage unit full of stuff, how many of us have no idea what exactly is in our attic, garage, under the bed, or at the back of our closets?
Several years ago we emptied out a storage unit we used after a move and found we really did not need much of what we had kept in the unit. It was an eye-opening experience. Fortunately, it was not difficult to get rid of that “stuff”. We gave a piece of furniture to a young couple at church that still loves and used it!!
Thanks for the insightful comment Anne. Out-of-sight-out-of-mind seems to apply here. All the things we could not live without at one time are now collecting dust in our storage unit, attic, garage, under the bed or at the back of our closets. Try this mental imaging exercise next time you’re tempted to buy somehting: Imagine whatever you’re thinking about buying sitting on a table at your next garage sale with a one dollar price tag affixed to it right next to the 1970s macrame beer can hat that you so loved back in the day.
That is really interesting. Last year I rented a trailer and got a free month of a storage unit and it really came in handy. I recommend we watch “Storage Wars” tomorrow in class.
Did you keep the storage unit after your free month was up? Thanks for the comment and I will have to give some thought to watching “Storage Wars” in class tomorrow 🙂
This story kind of sums it up…we have so much stuff we have to pay to store it. And then we forget we even have it! Did we need it in the first place? Good post.
Like Kyle, I instantly thought of “Storage Wars” when I read this blog post! I’ve always been amazed by the treasures that people are able to find in forgotten storage units. It’s just another reminder how we’ve come to value “things” as a source of self-worth, and are unwilling to let those “things” go.
I heard that after the auctions the company that owns the storage unit facility can only take the money owed for the storage unit, but must pay the person who rented the unit the rest of the profits. Is that true? And if so do you think people do this just to make an easy dollar?
It is rather interesting that a potential profit could be turned from storage units. I’ve always wandered if the storage owner receives a profit for involving their units in television shows like “Storage Wars”?
My mom always makes me clean out my closet every season and get ride of clothes i havent worn in the past year. We always take them up to buffalo exchange and sell them. One time i was there and a lady came in with 12 boxes of clothing talking about how she had cleaned out storage units that hadn’t been touched in a year. It is kinda gross how much people own and never get rid of. We consume too much!
I watch TLC’s “Storage Wars” all the time. From your description it sounds similar to the other program on SPIKE. I think the show itself is a good eye-opener to even more materialism. The bidders don’t have any idea what they are buying, but are willing to spend a lot of money on it. It definitely makes you think about how people overvalue materials.
In my house, the automatic home for something with no home is either the attic or the garage. We have everything from toys and stuffed animals we’ve had for 20+ years to seasonal decorations we don’t put out anymore. Some of it has sentimental meaning or my parents are saving it for their future grandchildren, but alot of it is just stuff we didn’t want to get rid of the last time we cleaned out the attic. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it.
I guess the worst is Storage Wars and how people take total advantage of other’s bad habits and not only sell there lost goods but then capitalize off it by having those ridiculous TV shows… Too much greed in all of it…
This type of investment has fueled an interesting speculation towards a viable return. Unfortunately, greed does play a role in this which means others will suffer.
The average US home size has tripled since the 1950’s, while the average number of family members has decreased, this means that in 1950, the average house had about 290 square feet per family member and now that number is almost 900 square feet. That is a 3 fold increase in 60 years. And, this figure doesn’t include attached garages which have all increased in size and number at the same rate.
More storage space for our stuff that we can’t or don’t want in our big houses is all symptomatic of our amazingly wealthy – only in the USA – lifestyle. Changing our American lifestyle, particularly our spending and buying habits, will take an economic upheaval much as we are witnessing today. For example, recently, average home sizes have begun to retract for the first time since we started keeping records. So maybe, just maybe in parallel with that new trend, the peak demand for storage unit space has also just quietly slipped past us and it may no longer be the investment vehicle it once was. Or, maybe I am dead wrong, and storage revenues will continue to climb as we downsize our homes but refuse to give up all the stuff we once had in our bigger homes.
Hello Doug,
Thanks for the reply and interesting statistics. I have a lot of similar statistics and stories in my book, Shiny Objects. I am hoping you’re right that we have reached our peak as far as material possessions and storage space are concerned, but history suggests that recessions are really nothing more than speed bumps on the road to ever-increasing spending. I hope you’re staying home for Black Friday. Happy holidays.
Dr. Roberts,
I most certainly was home on Friday and enjoyed family and friends all weekend. As a matter of fact I don’t think I made a single retail purchase except for a few last minute items for a holiday meal. Over the weekend, my wife and I discussed ideas for making our own holiday gifts this year, we prefer to save our limited incomes for travel and good food (whether dining in or out) and wine. We don’t own a TV and live in under 1000SF with one bath. It’s heavenly in its low maintenance (time and cost), its simplicity of lifestyle and best of all…with limited storage space when new (or new to us since we rarely shop retail) items come home, the old ones go to charity since there is no room for storage. I see people everyday who are slaves to their own possessions some of them are my clients who are the one tenth of “the one percent,” and some of them live on my street in our modest blue collar neighborhood. My advice, from firsthand experience; don’t be fooled, your stuff owns you, not the other way around. And, the more you have, the less control you maintain and the more control your stuff gains. Finally, stuff which is paid for on credit is like making a deal with the Devil. It is that very “credit” stuff which wakes you in the middle of the night and shouts at you to get up and go to work every day and you can even hear it at work when you want to tell your employer to take his/her job and take a hike!
Happy holiday shopping to everyone, God knows our economy needs it, but for those of you who have escaped the retail spin cycle, I hope you have a peaceful and happy, and stress free holiday season like mine.
Hello Doug,
I am happy to hear you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving vacation and by the sound of it, you’ve already embraced a simple lifestyle – kudos to you. You may be interested to know that Shiny Objects was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (November 26th, page C9), and that I will be on the CBS Early Show on Monday, Decemebr 5th to talk about Shiny Objects. Here’s to a happy holiday season.
-Jim
This is interesting. My family is guilty of having a storage unit for several years now that we don’t even know what’s really in there anymore. I think it’s been about 5 years since we’ve paid a visit to it. Hmm…maybe I could convince my family to donate away most of the stuff in there….
Myself and 2 friends are currently planning on getting in on the “Auction Hunting” venture. At this time we are building our “contact” list of potential buyers for different type of items, and securing storage spaces for items we need to work on unloading.
We’ll see what happens, should be an interesting ride….