The company offers self-storage space combined with a small office space that creates an environment it says is ideal for manufacturer's reps and other small businesses. It allows a small business operation to handle and track its daily flow of inventory, run a copy machine and make a few phone calls, all in one location. The storage facility staffers also receive product on behalf of their customers in their enclosed garage facility, which is attached to the 750-unit storage center or at the loading dock in the rear of the building. The company also offers mail-drop service and a small conference room facility clients can use. A storage unit that features the small office and a storage space about the size of a one-car garage goes for $325 per month.

"The target is more the business customer," explains Bryan Feldpausch, marketing director for US Storage Depot. "We certainly have the facilities to accommodate residential use, people who need a place to put their things temporarily, but with a climate-controlled environment, with the ability to create a small office with your storage area, we are targeting small businesses," he says. "It's an ideal setting for someone who is working out of their home or has a situation where they need a place to receive inventory," he continues.

According to the Self Storage Association, an industry group serving self-storage owners and operators, the building boom of the past 30 years or more for storage units likely has concluded. In a recent article in SSA Globe, the group's newsletter, the organization says that supply of storage units, on a national basis, appears now to more or less meet demand.