How Two Companies Are Changing the Personal Storage Business

Ever clean the garage and it looks almost the same as when you started?

Despite arranging and re arranging there is never enough room.

If you're like most homeowners you might build a small shed behind the garage, or rent a storage unit close by.

Or you could buy a garage condo, if you live in the right state.

Garagetown USA has taken the concept of a place to store your junk for homeowners, or a place to keep business supplies for small businesses, and turned it into showcases for your toys and meeting places for businesses.

It's done with ownership and attitude. Most storage units are austere places with narrow hallways, barely heated in the winter and a sweatbox in the summer. Yet, according to Garagetown USA website, Tom Johnson, founder and owner, noticed that people were spending time at these units regardless. Couple that with most people having too much stuff in the house and garage, and a concept was born. It was fourteen years before he found financing. Eventually he did, and the concept has grown from a single location to six states, including Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Texas and Washington state. Perhaps it's the nature of the West, where everything is larger and bigger, but accordingly there are national expansion plans.

It's the ownership that makes the difference. When you rent anything you have to follow the rules of the landlord. When you purchase your Garagetown USA "condo" you received a titled deed, like any other piece of real estate. The units you purchase look like large corrigated metal buildings, with a service door and a large overhead door, but you can get a lot more.

Because it's yours you can control who enters the unit, and what types of extras you can add. You can include high speed internet, cable and totally customize the look of your place, from the flooring to the color scheme. Unlike conventional storage units, many of which restrict access, these units are available 24 hours a day. A typical unit is 48 feet long and has garage doors 14 feet high, which makes it ideal for the Recreational Vehicle crowd. Some buy consecutive units, allowing for 96 feet of space.

Other benefits to ownership include possible appreciation on the real estate, the ability to do property swaps when you need to, and the feeling of a club membership. Many men, especially, use the large space to store the big boy toys, boats, motorcycles and classic cars. There is a club house too, like many condo units for people, where you can watch big screen TV, use the fridge or simply hang out. Carrie Berlund, marketing and sales director, says the units vary in price, from $53, 000 to $80,000.

Unlike some other companies that will turn your personal garage into a guy's den or whatever, Garagetown and others like it have taken the concept further by having the space apart. Small businesses are attracted to this idea, because they don't usually have enough storage space at home and more than likely have no place to entertain or meet with customers.

Storage Condominiums, Inc. is a company with a similar concept that is staking territory back East, in Ohio. Here, too, you buy your space and can use it for personal storage or for business.

For years the storage business has been dominated by a number of large companies and smaller mom and pop's. Neither used much imagination, and in some cases, made storage a problem as opposed to a solution by restricting hours and making the units inhospitable to man and beast.

Garagetown USA and Storage Condominiums are changing the idea that junk is just junk, to be stacked and stored. After all, one person's junk is another's treasure, and most treasures need proper display.