While some businesses may have been negatively impacted by the recent shutdown of the federal government and automatic budget cuts that went into effect in March, the Washington, D.C., location of Secure Self Storage has experienced substantial growth, company officials said.

November 1, 2013

2 Min Read
Secure Self Storage in Washington, DC, Thrives Despite Government Shutdown, Budget Cuts

While some businesses may have been negatively impacted by the recent shutdown of the federal government and automatic budget cuts that went into effect in March, the Washington, D.C., location of Secure Self Storage has experienced substantial growth, company officials said. "Even with all the government gyrations, the storage business has continued to stay strong; proving itself a primary need, just like apartments," said Bill Green, manager of the Washington facility.

Although business activity and tourism in the nations capital have been slowed, Secure Self Storage officials said they believe their business may have benefitted from vendors seeking storage for overstocked merchandise. Some likely turned to self-storage units to store their excess wares until they could unload their older items, the company said in a press release.

Another possible cause for the increase in self-storage usage is that, with the sequesters and shutdown, departments like the Department of Housing and Urban Development cant process new FHA [Federal Housing Administration] and other loans, so people are stuck with their housing situations, unable to move to larger spaces, officials said. So either they turn to storage units to reduce the clutter in their homes, or they are between homes and need a place to store their stuff until they can get approved for mortgages.

The company also believes free time gained by furloughed workers enabled them to tackle home projects, which could have included cleaning, reorganizing and reducing clutter. With the time off from work, they were able to figure out what items didnt need to be in the house and could be stored in a nearby self-storage facility, officials said.

Secure Self Storage operates 12 U.S. facilities in Delaware, Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as two locations in Ontario, Canada.

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