by John Stevens
December 21, 2009 11:45 AM
According to the owners of Forbes Storage in North Pole, Alaska, Santa Claus rented a self-storage unit at their facility on December 10 to store extra toys until Christmas Eve. Forbes owners Buzz Otis and Renee Webb Otis say that a man going by the name of Kris Kringle appeared at their facility after hours and used their Insomniac kiosk to rent a self-storage unit. They have posted a copy of Kringle's rental agreement, which is signed "Santa Claus," online. The rental agreement includes an off-season address in Anaheim, California, along with home, work, and cell phone numbers for Santa, in case self storage operators need to reach Santa after the holiday season.
"You can imagine our excitement when we reviewed our INSOMNIAC reports and saw Santa had rented a unit using our kiosk," Buzz commented. "It feels good to know we were able to help him when he needed it most."
Santa paid a one-time nonrefundable administrative fee of $10 and made a down payment of $85 on a 10 x 10 storage unit located at 1189 Old Richardson Highway in Fairbanks, Alaska. (The community of North Pole, Alaska, is just outside Fairbanks and some addresses overlap.) Santa also notes that he is not currently a member of the United States Armed Forces. A copy of Santa's international driver's license is attached to the rental agreement. According to the driver's license, Santa has white hair, blue eyes, is 5 feet 6 inches tall, and is large. Santa is licensed to operate a sleigh, but his license is restricted to sleighs pulled by reindeer.
Insomniac kiosks are self-service kiosks developed by OpenTech Alliance and released in June of 2009. The kiosks are available after hours, when the self storage facility office is closed. Prospective tenants of self storage units can use the kiosks to take a virtual tour of the facility, select a unit, buy a lock, pay for the unit, print out and sign a rental agreement, and sign up for tenant insurance. (Santa declined the tenant's insurance, opting to store his items at his own risk.) Existing tenants can also use the kiosks to make payments and changes to their accounts.