At Self-Storage Business in Port Chester, Surprises Lurk Behind Every Door

At the sprawling Byram Self Storage complex on Highland Street in Port Chester, there's a potential surprise and unique story behind every door.

While many of the company's more than 900 storage units are used by local residents to store items such as furniture and household possessions, Byram Self Storage manager Bryan Martinez says he has seen many unique things at the complex.

He recalls helping one customer move some items and seeing a sword that was presented to Gen. George Washington.

Today, Byram Self Storage is celebrating its 20th anniversary in business. There's a free party with food and entertainment at the company starting at noon.

Martinez says not too long ago he was surprised to see the entire contents of a local comic book store — more than 4,000 comic books — in a storage room. The store had gone out of business and the stockpile of comic books ended up being abandoned.

Rented storage rooms that are abandoned — the customers stop paying their rental fee and fail to pick up their possessions — often lead to unusual finds. But Martinez says most of the time the abandoned units are a headache because the contents must then be sold off at auction.

However, Martinez noted that abandoned units aren't as much as a problem at Byram Self Storage as at the average storage facility. He notes that Byram has auctions of contents from abandoned storage units about every three months, while most storage facilities have monthly auctions because they have more abandoned units.

Martinez attributes the lower rate of abandonment, in part, to Byram Self Storage's location, just off downtown Port Chester with easy access to nearby highways. He also notes that there are quite of number of customers who use Byram Self Storage as their main storage facility for their ongoing businesses.

He notes that one customer who operates an online shoe sales business keeps his stock of shoes at the storage facility.

"There are people that we see here every day," Martinez said.