A home for your stuff, not you

Name: Jamie Breen

Title: Owner, The Storage Station

How long have you been in the storage business?

Twenty-five years, at this location on Loudon Road.

What are some of the most common items people store?

Generally household goods, the summer or winter stuff you swap out.

What are some of the benefits for someone looking to rent a self-storage unit?

It keeps the clutter away from the house. The stuff you're not using on a daily basis, you have a place to store it but it's still accessible 24/7.

What is the most valuable item you've ever found in a storage unit?

We had a unit full of antique furniture that someone walked away from.

What is the weirdest item you've ever found in a storage unit?

Besides someone trying to live in one? (More on that in a moment). We had a unit that went to auction where we found a funhouse door from an old carnival. That was kind of spooky.

Has anyone ever tried to live in one of your storage units?

Different people over the years have done it. One guy left his unit unlocked, and when I opened it up I could see his bed, his table, a beer can. Another guy set up an entire living room in his unit. There's no electricity in any of the units, and I noticed his because he had an extension cord sticking out.

What if someone drove their van into the storage unit and then tried to live in their van?

Nope, you can't do that, either.

You run a storage business - do you have anything in storage, and if so, what sorts of items?

I do. It's basically extra junk I should get rid of and haven't. Since I've got the space, I still have it.

What is the protocol for stuff left behind in the units?

Legally we can get rid of stuff after 30 days. But our policy is to wait 60 days before we do anything. We tend to wait a little longer, because we've all been behind 30 days for something or other. We make weekly calls to the owner, but generally if it's abandoned, we'll take a few months before we do anything like the legal stages of auctioning it off.

What is the largest individual item ever stored in your units?

The same unit that had the funhouse door had some bumper cars. They were huge and they were heavy. It took about six guys to move them out.

Have you ever had someone store something illegal in one of your units?

It's not uncommon to find people storing gas cans or things like that. I did have a huge unit we found filled with tires once. Those can be hard to dispose of, but I found someone who was willing to buy them.