I was a profit-center for this facility for 15 years, so my review is going to be mixed.
I have good things to say about the staff who run this particular StorageMart location, starting with the manager Wendy -- and bad things to say about storing your stuff in general.
RULE #1: NEVER, ever pay a 3rd party for storage. You think you're sticking it there for just a couple of months. But they are instead going to stick it to you.
Once your stuff is out of your hands, is it in theirs. You will experience inertia getting it out. Life happens. You let other issues rise to the top of your attention. It will cost you time, money and emotional energy to process, ship or liquidate your load.
You become an emotional hostage. Your things own you. The storage host -- in this case, a privately-held, corp in Missouri not even accountable to shareholders -- is banking on that. They are betting on your emotional weakness, just like a casino.
They know that your monthly rental is essentially a ransom. A guilt payment. And they will jack up that ransom by double-digits a year, outside any regulatory or rent-control oversight that typical rule pay-for-space contracts.
I could have a bought a brand new car with what I paid StorageMart, gritting my teeth every month. Am I bitter? No, I was an idiot. I want you to avoid my mistake.
RULE #2: If you *do* have to rent a storage space because of life events -- family death, illness, loss of a job or house, or moving to another city or country -- then I would recommend the StorageMart at 25 Crouse Rd. in Scarborough.
I make that recommendation because of the staff, led by manager Wendy, and her colleague, Norman.
These are decent people who really care about the personal circumstances of their clients. And as a reflection of their human approach, this particular facility has attracted a pretty cool community of tenants.
If I was short-handed loading a filing cabinet in my SUV, I could easily ask a neighbor for help.
If I needed advice from Wendy, she helped me through multiple decisions about liquidation, packing and shipping -- which I finally did in the summer of 2014.
They should make Wendy the general manager who trains -- and writes the manual for -- every other StorageMart location.
But that's not my problem. I am outta there. But I do thank Wendy, who was kind of like a mother figure.
RULE # 3: All of that stuff that you think is worth storing is not.
Unless you have first-edition, hard-cover books signed by a president or Winston Churchill, or Faberge eggs or . . . oh wait, if we had those . . . we wouldn't be renting space at Storage Mart :)
Your books? Are worth nothing. Give them away. Especially in Canada.
LIFE magazines? Are worth something. But you have to shoot, annotate and list them on an e-tail site.
Antiques? Unless they're from French nobility, they are worth nothing -- in spite of what Pawn Stars, Storage Wars and American Pickers tell you on reality-TV cable channels.
The antique stores in Toronto will give you zero value. Remember, their business model -- their whole means of making their rent -- is to buy something for $10 from a sucker at a yard sale or sheriff's liquidation, and then stick it in their shop for $1,000.
So what *is* worth storing?
Answer: One of a kind items that mean something to you, family heirlooms and IP. Intellectual Property that either you created, or to which you own the rights. Could be a brand, could be film, could be visual arts . . .
Or it could be written works -- which, of course, you will immediately digitize to avoid storage fees :) read more