| HONOLULU - Even storing your stuff in Hawaii can | | | | expensive homes and a plethora of new compact |
| be done in an upscale style, as the newest | | | | condos. Plus, many residents have kayaks, |
| self-storage facilities resemble small resorts and | | | | canoes, surfboards and other tough-to-store |
| hotels on some of the islands' priciest real estate. | | | | watersports equipment. |
| With 24-hour access, air conditioned hallways and | | | | Mostly due to high land costs, storage space in |
| use of fancy business centers and Wi-Fi Internet, | | | | Hawaii rents for an average of $3 per square |
| storage companies are catering to customers as | | | | foot, while nationally space averages less than a |
| the industry that is booming nationwide becomes | | | | dollar. |
| more competitive. | | | | In Hawaii Kai, a seaside district in eastern Oahu |
| A StorSecure outlet, designed to blend in with the | | | | where multimillion dollar homes wrap around the |
| lush green mountains, sits near the eastern shores | | | | marina, a new tan and green StorSecure |
| of Oahu next to multimillion dollar homes and | | | | Self-Storage facility blends in with its surroundings. |
| expensive boats. Hawaii Self Storage recently | | | | People often confuse the new four-story, |
| spent $250,000 to install a clock tower and | | | | 120,000-square-foot facility with a hotel. Owners |
| Hawaiian mosaics to overlook the island's busiest | | | | spent nearly half a year working with neighbors |
| highway. And Public Storage has constructed a | | | | who had feared the building would downgrade the |
| flashy facility on a high-rent downtown corner | | | | neighborhood, Pang said. |
| with space for retail shops to operate on the | | | | Now outside lights dim at night to accommodate |
| ground floor. | | | | the turtles dwelling in the marina. |
| "We really wanted to become part of the | | | | "We blend in, so we might lose some sales, but |
| neighborhood," said Annette Pang, vice president | | | | we feel our sacrifice is outgained by our |
| of marketing for Honolulu-based StorSecure. "The | | | | satisfaction," Pang said. |
| last thing we wanted to do was become an | | | | One Public Storage facility in Honolulu features a |
| eyesore or diminish the value of these beautiful | | | | women's apparel store on its streetside ground |
| homes." | | | | floor, and two other storefronts are under |
| Self-storage is a booming $21 billion business | | | | construction. |
| nationwide that has nearly doubled the | | | | Hawaii Self Storage built the giant clock tower at |
| space-for-rent during the past decade, with one in | | | | its newest $13.7 million, four-story, |
| every 11 households renting space in nearly | | | | 171,000-square-foot site across the street from |
| 50,000 self-storage outlets nationwide - including | | | | an imposing six-story Public Storage business - |
| about 3,000 new sites that opened last year. | | | | one of 2,100 locations owned by the Glendale, |
| The growth is easy to see on the space-scarce | | | | Calif., company. |
| islands of Hawaii. As of March there were 73 | | | | With more competition in Honolulu, the newest |
| outlets or 2.76 square feet of self-storage per | | | | facilities have introduced 24-hour access, |
| person, well below the national average. But with | | | | dehumidification technology to prevent mold and |
| eight recently built facilities and at least another | | | | mildew and advanced security systems. |
| dozen storage operations planned, the rapid | | | | Many operations also hold incoming shipments for |
| growth of these facilities in Hawaii has outpaced | | | | customers - a major incentive for businesses. |
| the national growth. | | | | Janna Joe-Hagiwara, a storage renter for 10 |
| Once identified with ugly warehouse-like eyesores, | | | | years, switched to Hawaii Self Storage recently |
| storage companies are now designed to meet | | | | because it now offers cardboard recycling for the |
| community architectural standards as they pop up | | | | boxes her pharmaceutical business discards each |
| in prime residential areas and in the midst of busy | | | | day. |
| retail complexes, said Mike Scanlon, president of | | | | Ecolab Pest Elimination is one of several |
| the Virginia-based Self Storage Association. | | | | companies that headquarters its business out of |
| Regardless of the architecture, hidden inside the | | | | storage facilities. |
| flashy exteriors are thousands of locked spaces - | | | | New shipments from the mainland are stored until |
| in sizes from mailboxes to roomy garages. | | | | its service specialists pick up the light fixtures and |
| They hold overflow inventory and files from local | | | | non-lethal bait traps, said district manager Dave |
| businesses, stacks of aging boxes and furniture | | | | Lau. The rented space allows the company to |
| saved from family deaths or divorce and | | | | work without the need for an office as Ecolab |
| collections of stuff too big to fit into cramped | | | | employees mostly operate from home and |
| condos or tropical houses that often have no | | | | communicate via handheld devices. |
| attics, basements or garages. | | | | "We get much more than just storage," Lau said. |
| Hawaii is a great area for growth of self-storage | | | | "I'm here every week and they know us. |
| businesses, with nearly no residential basements, | | | | |