The high cost of Americans’ attachment to clutter is making headlines.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on how an era of abundant access to low cost goods has impacted U.S. households, and given rise to a thriving self-storage industry.
The article, “Americans Buy a Crazy Amount of Cheap Stuff. It’s Costing Us Dearly”, cited new research on consumer habits from Storable that uncovered some eye-opening statistics:
- 71% of Americans surveyed said they have purchased an item more than once because they couldn’t find where they put the first one they bought.
- 21% of Americans dedicate more than 500 square feet of their home to just storage.
- 9% of American garages are too full of stuff to park cars in.
- 74% of Americans experience stress and anxiety when confronted with cluttered areas of their homes.
The growing accumulation of low cost goods has to end up somewhere. The desire to reclaim living space creates demand for the self-storage industry, which provides lower cost space for storing belongings compared to the square foot cost of housing. While many use storage on a temporary basis, trends suggest that for growing numbers storage is a more long term solution.
Chuck Gordon, Storable founder and CEO, spoke to the Wall Street Journal about this trend for the piece. From the article (paywall):
“Roughly 80% of the world’s self-storage facilities are located in the U.S., according to Nick Walker, a real-estate analyst at CBRE. The self-storage industry is one of the biggest beneficiaries of Americans’ inability to let go. Chuck Gordon, founder of Storable, said on average, people rent their units for 14 months, though many units remain rented for years. “People forget what they’ve stored,” Gordon said.”
For more on Storable’s recent survey on personal storage habits, please click to download a free copy of The Real Cost of Clutter. Whether you’re a storage operator looking to better understand your customer, or simply curious about what clutter is really costing you as a consumer —this report delivers data and insights to help you drive smarter decisions.
