THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409240036
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BROWN H. CARPENTER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
As summer approached, Lisa Metcalfe, a teacher at Friends School in Virginia Beach, looked at her garage packed with yard tools, boxes of textbooks, bicycles, skis, surfboards and who knows what.
``It looked like a wreck,'' she said. ``We were having a wedding soon, my son was coming home from college. Where were we ever going to put all that stuff?''
Her answer? Find the nearest storage rental facility and truck the garage items to a handy cinder block cubbyhole. Figure out what to do with it later.
In her case, a 5-by-15-foot unit was perfect. Metcalfe pays $55 per month to the Jack Rabbit Self-Storage at 189 S. Rosemont Road, Virginia Beach.
One recent Sunday, she drove to the facility and inserted her coded card to open the gate. Security cameras kept a watch on the area. She parked and went to her unit, one of many lining a hallway within the one-story concrete building.
Unlocking the padlock, Metcalfe opens the door to reveal all that garage surplus stacked neatly and easy to negotiate. ``It's just like a big closet,'' she said.
She quickly found the box of schoolbooks she was searching for, grabbed an armful, locked the door and returned to her car.
Using the storage unit is a stopgap measure, Metcalfe said. After a few months, her son, who is awaiting a commission in the Navy, can claim the things he wants to take with him when he leaves home. Other things may be taken back to the garage now that her daughter's wedding is over and the house doesn't have to be quite so neat.
``As for the rest,'' she said, ``if nobody needs it, we'll throw it away.''
The Metcalfes are typical customers of the home storage business these days. ``Most of us just accumulate too much stuff,'' said Larry Sifen, who with his two brothers owns Mini-Price Mini-Storage, which has facilities at 597 Central Drive, Virginia Beach, and 4929 Shell Road, Norfolk.
``So we run out of space and would rather store it than go through it. It's easier to keep it than to throw it away.''
People in transit are still the main customers, Sifen said, but people need a home away from home to store their possessions for many reasons. The average rental time at his business is seven months. ``Some are for one month, some are semi-permanent,'' he said.
Sales representatives often keep their wares in storage units. Contractors store items such as scaffolding, ladders and paint, particularly when city zoning laws prohibit these items in residential areas.
These garage-sized units rent for $96 per month and, at 11 by 30 feet, are frequently used by deployed sailors to store their cars.
Sifen said out-of-town college students need a place for their winter clothes and books when they leave the area during the summer.
They can rent a 4-by-5-foot ``walk-in closet'' for $25 per month, Sifen said.
One of his customers is a legal firm that stores its very old court records.
Sifen estimates that Hampton Roads has 81 storage rental facilities. His company plans two more, which will bring the total units to 1,200.
If moving, Navy sea duty and overflowing households keep the storage companies in business, a fourth, sadder event is also a factor: divorce.
Many an angry spouse has pulled a surprise attack and removed the couple's furniture when they call it splits. The embittered party usually takes it to a storage unit.
``Once, a woman used my truck to get the furniture,'' recalled Sifen. ``But by the time she got to the house, her husband had taken it away first.''
But he also remembered a happier ending. Two spatting spouses each stored their belongings with Mini-Price. Later, they reconciled. ``I knew because the wife came in and moved all her stuff into her husband's unit,'' he said.
Probably the most unusual customer Sifen recollected was the veteran Navy chief who rented a unit to construct model ships and airplanes. He set up tables and would spend hours at his hobby.
Most storage companies offer about the same prices and services, including 24-hour security, available dollies, privacy and seven-day-per-week access. So finding a competitive edge isn't easy. In Sifen's case, it's his small fleet of trucks. You can use one to move your belongings into a storage unit. Pay only mileage and gasoline.
At Sentry Self Storage at 4815 Station House Road in Chesapeake, your items will be guarded by dogs behind a nine-foot barbed wire fence. ``They're German shepherds,'' said Brenda Patrick, the manager. ``They roam the premises at night.'' Sentry also has a 24-hour resident manager.
Virginia Beach Mini Storage, 1366 Virginia Beach Blvd., has one building with climate control. (Shurguard Storage Centers also offer this convenience.)
``Some customers prefer that,'' said Richard Clark, who managers Beach Mini Storage. ``Customers with books, electronic equipment and paper products.'' Old records store well in these units.
The price difference isn't great. A 5-by-10-foot unit goes for $37 per month in a standard space, $45 in a climate-controlled one.
The Better Business Bureau receives few complaints from customers of storage rentals, according to Linda Candler, director of members services. Most concern the contract. When you're renting a unit, read the contract. The customer is also obligated to live up to it, especially making the rent payments on time.
The contract usually specifies what can't be stored: flammable liquids, other hazardous materials and illegal substances being the more obvious. Sifen says he occasionally gets a customer who brings roaches with his storage items.
The BBB offers the following tips:
Security is the first concern you should check out.
Is fire and theft insurance offered? Your homeowner's policy might cover this.
Read and understand the contract. It's usually very specific.
What are the access hours?
Arrange to have payments made if you're out to sea. Local managers say they'll work with sailors on this.
Make sure your goods are sealed properly against rodents and mildew. Humidity is particularly bad in Hampton Roads. ILLUSTRATION: KEN WRIGHT/Staff
by CNB