STORAGE: CURE FOR `FILLED TO THE BRIM' DILEMMA

Cabinets -- for that matter, closets, drawers, garages, under beds, attics, tool sheds and the trunk of the family car -- are meant for filling.

But when "filled to the brim" puts homeowners -- or even some major businesses -- in a dilemma, the solution may be just around the corner in one of America's more than 30,000 mini-storage facilities.

The mini-storage business has become a popular concept in this area and across the nation.

"There are a lot of facilities in Cape Girardeau," said Loy Welker, a partner in Firebird Investments. "We have a total of 451 units."

"We" includes other partners, Mary K. Welker, George and Patricia Bockhorst Jr., and Mike and Diane Brown.

Bockhorst and his wife are also sole owners of another mini-storage business -- Armor Mini-Storage South, with more than 200 units.

"The mini-storage business is a big one," said Welker. "It's also a good business.

"Of course you have to be careful," added Welter. "You never know what people are going to put in the building."

Ken Martin, manager of the Armor Mini Storage North, agrees.

He remembers when a young lady rented a unit and put three large stuffed Teddy bears in it.

"We have surveillance cameras here, and we watched the lady and a friend take the three bears into the building," he said.

Martin thought nothing more about three bears in such a large space until three or four days later when FBI investigators appeared on the premises to ask about what was stored in that certain shed.

"Just Teddy bears," said Martin.

"That's what we're looking for," said the FBI agent.

The Teddy bears were "stuffed" all right -- with money.

"It seems the young lady had embezzled a Springfield, Mo., bank of about $80,000," said Martin. "She had driven to Cape Girardeau, purchased the three Teddy bears at a local store, stuffed them with money, and leased one of our small storage units."

A number of pets have been found in various units as well.

"We found a boa constrictor in one unit," said Martin. "Only trouble was that it wasn't in the right unit. The boa had escaped from one unit where it had been placed by the owner, and was found by a surprised woman in another unit."

A cat was found in another unit.

"We heard the cat meowing," said Martin, "but we couldn't determine where it was."

Two days later, Martin's wife Barbara again heard the cat. She started tapping on units until the cat meowed again, revealing its location.

"The cat had been in the unit a couple of days but it was OK," said Martin.

"We have even had instances when people rented a unit and lived in it until we discovered what was happening," he added.

Cecile Blaine, associate editor for The Mini Storage Messenger, a national publication headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., says the 30,000 national storage facilities add up to many times that number of individual units.

She says, "Some facilities have a half-dozen units, some have hundreds of units."

Even with all the facilities -- an average of 6,000 per state -- occupancy has been good.

"Occupancy rates are figured by regions across the country," said Blaine. "The lowest occupancy rate in any region is 81 percent, with the national average about 90 percent. The highest average is any one region is 91.5 percent."

No occupancy rate is available for Cape Girardeau, "but we're running over 95 percent," said Welker.

Becky McCormick, manager of U Store & Lock it, 1815 Cape LaCroix Rd., agrees.

"We're probably over 95 percent occupancy and we have more than 200 units," said McCormick, who has served as a manager of U Store & Lock It 13 years.

More than 1,000 units, ranging in size from 50 square feet up at prices ranging from $30 up, can be found in Cape Girardeau. Among companies here are:

-- Affordable Mini storage, owned by David Hutson, 43 units, 1606 N. Kingshighway.

-- Armor Mini Storage North, owned by Firebird Investments, over 250 units, 1678 Kingsway.

-- Armor Mini Storage Central, owned by Firebird Investments, 188 units, 321 Broadview.

-- Armor Mini Storage South, owned by George and Patricia Bockborst Jr., 200 units, 832 S. Kingshighway.

-- U Store & Lock It, owned by Wongae Kim, 225 units, 1815 Cape Lacroix Road.

-- Cape Storage Co., owned by Tom Armbruster, 1138, inside and outside storage, 1138 S. Kingshighway.

-- Store-More on 74, owned by Betty Jung, 32 units, Highway 74 across from Potashnick.

-- There are other storage facilities in the area -- Day Transfer Co., 2094 Southern Expressway, and U-Haul Co., which has several storage units at 74 S. Kingshighway.

Mini storage units are to the liking of many people.

"They're available for short-term or long-term," said Welker. "We do a lot of commercial storage. In most cases, the rental units are more economical for a company than building a warehouse."

Mini storage facilities feature convenient locations, competitive rates, security fence and/or locks and many have "live-in" site managers.

"People have 24-hour access to their storage facility," said Martin. "Armor North here is a state-of-the-art facility. It has computerized locks, surveillance cameras and 24-hour access."

"We looked at many storage facilities before building Armor North," said Welker. "We incorporated the best of many facilities."

Betty Jung had a cleanup job at Store-More on 74, a 32-unit mini-storage facility, which features sizes ranging from 20 foot long to 40 feet long.

"The Flood of 1993 got us," said Jung, whose facility is located on Highway 74, across from Potashnick Construction, Inc.

Cape Storage provides indoor and outdoor storage facilities at 1138 S. Kingshighway.

"We have one large, 5,500 square foot building," said owner Tom Armbruster. "It seems we're always full, and we're looking into expansion with some smaller units in the future."

"The popularity of the mini-storage units has increased in recent years," said Blaine. "More people are building them, and more people are using them."