I received an e-mail response to Tuesday's post about the new PACK RAT enterprisea representative from 1-800-GOT-JUNK? (formerly The Rubbish Boys) wanted to make sure I knew about storage facilities that use junk-removal companies to keep on top of their clutter. Truthfully, I wasn't aware of such a partnership; but upon visiting www.1800gotjunk.com, I see some large storage players are indeed using the service: Storage USA, Public Storage and Shurgard.
Here's the official release I received (the edited version, of course):
What do today's trendsetting self-storage owners and managers do to keep profits up and maximize rental space? They use revolutionized junk-removal companies to keep buildings free of clutter and turn storage units over faster. Offering same-day service, the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? team is now available in more than 260 locations and four countries. In addition to efficient centralized billing and a 24-hour call center, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? offers a professional crew that will arrive on time at your premises and do all the loading and lifting to ensure all your storage units are usable units.
What a concept, eh? Not only do Americans pay good money to put all their extra junk into storage (thank goodness!), but they actually pay people to come deal with it when their done storing it! And storage owners get in on that action, too. I really hope some sociology student writes a thesis about this.
So move over, Pack Rats, and make room for The Rubbish Boys ... Because if you can't store it or sell it on eBay for a quick buck (look for an article about this in the October 2006 issue of Inside Self-Storage), you might as well get experts to take it off your hands.
