What can you do with a large, empty building that was previously used as a discount retail superstore? Make a self storage warehouse out of it. That’s what several retailers and real estate developers, after trying unsuccessfully to sell vacant buildings in a rough real estate market, are concluding. Over the summer, a group of Dallas real estate developers bought an old Walmart and converted it to a Just Store It facility. Now Menards has followed suit, turning its old Eau Claire, Wisconsin facility into a self storage business -- Menards Self Storage. [More]

Many people save baby gear in self storage units, planning to reuse gear for an expected sibling or hoping to give the gear away to family members or friends. If you are storing baby gear, you may want to doublecheck to make sure that none of the gear has been recalled before allowing families to use it. Recalls of baby gear are common, but this has been a particularly bad year for stroller and double stroller recalls. [More]