45. Storage Units

The Economics of Everyday Things

Americans love to buy new stuff and hate to get rid of old stuff, which is why storing it all has become a $45 billion business. Zachary Crockett cleans out the garage.

• SOURCES:
  • Zachary Dickens, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Extra Space Storage.
  • Anne Mari DeCoster, self-storage consultant.
  • Kara Kolodziej, self-storage unit tenant.

• RESOURCES:
  • "A Fifth Of Americans Rent Self Storage, With Millennials Overtaking Gen Xers In Generational Storage Wars," by Francis Chantree (Storage Cafe, 2024).
  • "Lessors of Mini Warehouses and Self-Storage Units Show Significant Financial Gains During COVID-19 Pandemic," by Ben Chandler and Robin Enlow (United States Census Bureau, 2024).
  • "The Fate of Oversupplied Self-Storage Markets and How to Pull Back From the Brink," by Frank DeSalvo and David Perlleshi (Inside Self Storage, 2023).
  • "A Pandemic Space Race: Self-Storage Roars Back," by Ellen Rosen (The New York Times, 2021).
  • "Need to Store That? Booming Self-Storage Industry Says No Problem," by Liam Pleven (The Wall Street Journal, 2015).

• EXTRAS:
  • Storage Wars, TV series (2010-present).
  • Auction Hunters, TV series (2010-2015).