Inside the World’s Largest Storage Facilities
A Look at Mind-Blowingly Huge Self-Storage Empires
We all have that one cupboard we’re afraid to open. Now, imagine that closet is the size of five football fields, has its own postcode, or its own suburb and does probably house a small country’s worth of IKEA furniture. Wild isn't it?
Welcome to the world’s largest storage facilities, where your clutter is just a small drop in a vast ocean of forgotten items and questionable purchases.
Atchison Storage Facility – Kansas, USA
Known as the "Atchison Caves," this underground storage facility spans 2.7 million square feet within a former limestone mine. Originally used by the U.S. government during World War II, it now serves various storage needs under private ownership. This leads to the question.. Imagine what is being hidden underground instead of above ground?
Bigger Than Your Wildest Dreams (and Regrets)
The largest self-storage facilities on Earth aren’t just big. They're monolithic, city-sized temples to humanity’s inability to let go of a broken tv set from 2004.
Take, for example, Laurel, Maryland, home to a self-storage complex boasting over 4 million square feet. That's not a typo. That's the size of 70 average-sized Kmart's and probably contains a mountains (a real mountain) worth of unused items. A literal mountain.
And in Viva Las Vegas, a storage facility so massive it practically needs its own monorail that spans the desert. Rumor has it, the employees haven't seen the whole place.
Global Self-Storage Industry Insights
Market Size: The global self-storage market was valued at approximately $60.16 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $100.7 billion by 2033. Could we change this? SYS is beginning the challenge..
Growth Drivers: Urbanization, increasing consumerism, and the need for flexible storage solutions contribute to the industry's growth. People hang onto things longer than they should, our emotional attachment supersedes our common sense most of the time. Storage companies love this about society.
Regional Highlights:
North America: Dominates the market with a high concentration of facilities and operators. This is the home and start of the self storage industry.
Europe: Experiencing steady growth, particularly in the UK and Germany. People are leaving the EU more and more to live in other countries.
Asia-Pacific: Emerging markets in countries like Japan and Australia are showing increased demand for self-storage solutions. Australia is quickly becoming one of the global leaders in self storage. Aussies are starting to become victims to the storage cycle..
Next time you pass by one of these mega-storage empires, tip your hat to the geniuses behind the buildings. You're witnessing the true marvel of modern civilization: our eternal hope that someday, somehow, we will actually clean out that storage unit.