[peterjs]

Thats probably more money than the size of the whole European self-storage industry. I'm really curious, why are these services so popular in the US? What do you store there? When? E.g. when I have something I don't want to get rid of just yet (furniture, spare parts...), I put it in the basement of our apartment house. Although, I can imagine using self-storage when moving.

[Ilmesnkie_Jones]

New York apartments can have very little storage space when I was looking for a studio some had one small closet and no bathroom storage at all. People I know use them for out of season sports stuff and clothes, especially couples where two people are sharing one small closet.

[siruva07]

Recently a storage unit in a luxury building went for $300K. Not kidding.

http://nypost.com/2013/08/25/new-yorkers-spending-300g-on-st...

[siruva07]

I think you would find this article really interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06self-storage-t....

[mehwoot]

Tom Litton, for example, still keeps four storage units himself, at two facilities, all of them 10-by-30 units. I asked what’s inside... “I’ve got some of my old clothes that I probably wouldn’t wear anyway,” he continued, and some trophies from college. “I also have some old cassette tapes that I produced.”

The cassettes are like audiobooks, he explained — tutorials on how to get into the storage industry and succeed. He made them before the storage-facility building boom ended a couple of years ago. “They didn’t sell,” Litton said, “so they’re all in storage now.”