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.
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 lein 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 suburuban 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 cohabitating with light manufacturing, office tenants and even a public school [citation needed].
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 [citation needed].
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.
Information Courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Storage may refer to:
- Small,
mobile containers designed to hold food or other goods:
- Container (cargo), a shipping container, storage for cargo transport
- Food storage, containers such as Tupperware and Rubbermaid brands
- Magazine (artillery), an item or place within which ammunition is stored
- Furniture
designed to hold small objects:
- Bookcase, Cabinet (furniture), Chest (furniture), Cupboard, Desk, Sideboard (hutch), Refrigerator, Locker, etc.
- Larger
containers typically designed to store special kinds of objects or substances:
- Reservoir (water), an artificial lake
- Storage tank
- Dry cask storage, storing high-level radioactive waste
- Special
rooms, or parts of buildings, designed for storage:
- Storage room, Closet, Cellar, Attic
- Special
buildings, or collections of buildings, designed to hold large objects,
or a great many objects of a particular type:
- Shed, Depot, Garage (house)
- Warehouse, a commercial building for storage of goods
- Self storage, public storage facility
- Ammunition dump, a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives
- Devices
designed to store and release electrical charge or energy:
- Capacitor, stores electric charge
- Battery, a store of electricity
- Devices
designed for information storage and retrieval:
- Data storage
- Computer storage
- Collections
of stored information:
- Archive, or archives — a collection of records
- Books store information in the form of written language or images
- Memory
stores the record of experience
Information Courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
