Self storage, to some people, is more than a place where belongings are stored, it is an escape where one can go to reminisce about the past, get some time alone or just kick back and relax. Some people visit their units every day, catalouging collections, practicing with their band, or just sitting on a lawn chair in the unit reading a newspaper. Sometimes self storage operators see customers so frequently they know them by name and often share in a cup of coffee and some small talk.
“I had this one elderly Japanese gentleman who used to come in all the time,” Jarod Bailon, manager of Simply Storage on Nimitz Highway, Honalulu, told Honalulu Magazine. “He’d have coffee with us. He’d stop in three times, at least, every week. We opened the doors by 9, and he’d be in by 9:30 or 10. It was always the same routine: Make his cup of coffee, have a seat, ask how the day was going so far, did I have a lot of move-ins or move-outs today, almost like a regular at a bar. I’d ask him what he was doing and he’d always say the same thing: ‘Just came to stop by and check on my things,’ like it was pets or something.”
Storage units are not just the numbers they are assigned. The belongings behind the metal doors tell a story of a life. And many people have such a strong attachment to their items in self storage that they visit them regularly and just hang out in the unit with their stuff. One day Balion passed by a man’s locker and saw him sitting on a little folding chair sorting through sports cards, stamps and coins.
“It was organized like a library, he’d put up plastic shelves on either side. I said: ‘Uncle, how come you come here?’ and he says: ‘I gotta get away from my wife!’ He starts laughing, then he says: ‘She’s home watching her soap operas, so I come in and do my thing here,’” Balion said.
Recently at StorKeeper self storage in Honolulu, a middle-aged man was sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper in his unit. Manager Keola Ulu seemed uncomfortable with the fact that some come to the units just to bustle around or relax. “We discourage people from spending too much time at their units. They can’t loiter, or take a nap, and we really don’t want them changing or closing the unit up while they’re inside,” he said.
Also at StorKeeper, Jai Rodgers, front man for the band Breath of Fire, uses his unit to hang with his bandmates and practice for their next gig. The corrugated metal box is an affordable practice spot. “We were paying $35 for two hours at a studio in Kailua. This place (storage unit) is a lot cheaper and we don’t have to make an appointment. Plus, we wanted to be able to store stuff after gigs at, like, 3 a.m.,” says Rodgers.
Sources Used:
Wiseman, Victoria. “The Secret Life of Storage Units in Honolulu.” Honolulu Magazine. May 2011.
Gonzalez, Tony. “Self Storage Units Used for More than Storage.” Self Storage Industry News. May 10, 2011.