Space is a commodity, not at any cost but the most. A 400-square-foot apartment could pass as a manor anywhere and every space is an issue. It is not surprising then that Brilliant Storage has quietly become the industry that is seeing a rapid boom.
Look around in any residential part and you will see some signs here and there. Bright orange colors, glass doors, air-conditioned rooms like Lego blocks constructed in re-conditioned warehouse or vacant offices. Not a decade back they did not exist and now turn at every corner of the city from Kwun Tong all the way to Chai Wan.
Why this sudden boom?
For the most part mathematics. Houses shrinking and consumerism growing at rocket speed.
People accumulating their furniture, seasonal apparel, toys of kids and official documents.
Where does all that supposed to end when the living space doubles up as dining space as well as office space?
The answer to whichself-storage rooms have provided-a secret that most people did not want to reveal, boxes being tucked away everywhere at apartment stairs, balconies and office closets in a workplace; rather a shame and a security hazard considering fire safety regulations in the country.
Business ventures immediately latched onto it. Small businesses needing extra space for their inventory, freelancers in business needing a space to keep their equipment after completing a job, restaurants using warehouse for seasonal stock like extra chairs in away building rather than on their premises. These spaces cost less than having commercial real estate expand just for storing boxes.
Prices for these rooms may vary based on the space to be taken, ranging from hundreds to four figures for furniture, files and business materials. The price depends on how close the location is to city center; those rooms will cost more compared to those in New Territories which are located in industrial areas.
Security then is no longer just an issue, it is a selling point. CCTVs are in every corner, standard security access for customers, even biometric access has become the norm; these might be too much, but customers surely want their belongings to be safe. Another problem; high humidity level.
In tropical climates like Hong Kong your valuable documents and leather products go off quickly.
Rooms with air conditioned atmosphere offer the protection of possessions from decay. If you are living in the country then, you’ll know it by coming back to opened boxes with damp and decaying objects in your home.
There is another less-known problem, not often mentioned but still important. Clients moving due to divorce, downsizing their homes and families, or perhaps transferring their households from one apartment building to another, while the new apartment is still undergoing renovation work; storage rooms act as holding areas for these lives in transition. They aren’t just boxes being moved around; they are grandma’s antique dinner set, the old store which once flourished, a memory packed in a box.
The demand will only increase because the reason behind them will never diminish. Hong Kong is not getting any bigger; customers are not going to shop any less. So finally people will have to make some compromise where the masses will make compromise on space by hiring a room in an area which will be forgotten until one has to move again.