Northwestern students are preparing not only for finals but alsofor the stress of packing and storing their belongings for thesummer.
Students who do not live in the Chicago area are looking tostore clothes, furniture and other possessions with relatives,friends who have Evanston apartments, NU dorms and local storageservices.
Residents of Willard Residential College are having more troublethan usual because their items must be cleared out so theresidential college can be renovated over the summer. Willard’spresident, Kevin Kearney, said a trunk room in which returningWillard students traditionally store some of their items will notbe available for use this year.
“A lot of people rely on that space and because of theconstruction going on this summer, all of it has to be taken out ofthe dorm,” said Kearney, a Communication freshman. “(It) leaves alot of students without places to store their belongings orfurniture for posterity, as has been a tradition.”
For students unable to rely on their residence halls, a varietyof services exist in the Evanston and Chicago areas for shippingand storage. Collegeboxes charges $35 a box and provides freepick-up and delivery during Finals Week and New Student Week in thefall. The company charges additional fees for oversized boxes,insurance and non-boxed items such as refrigerators and rugs.
“It’s extremely consumer friendly and basically a really nicesolution for students who live out of state who don’t want to takeboxes with them or drive them home,” said Arnaud Karsenti, founderand CEO of Collegeboxes. “This is our core service and this is whatwe focus on. We’re kind of specialized on the student storagebusiness.”
Collegeboxes, which merged with the NU storage group StudentSolutions in 2000, currently serves about 750 NU students each yearand 6,000 students nationwide, Karsenti said.
The UPS Store, formerly Mailboxes Etc., charges $35 for boxes of50 pounds or less and provides free pick-up and delivery. Althoughthe company provides storage, it encourages students to ship theirbelongings home.
“We want to give the students both options that they can storeand ship,” said Bryan Barnett, owner of Evanston’s UPS Store, 1555Sherman Ave. “We do storage and do a lot of it but we want to shipas much as possible. Our primary business is UPS shipping and ourprices, compared to Collegeboxes, are going to be significantlycheaper for shipping.”
Storage space might be a more affordable option for groups ofstudents. Public Storage, 2101 W. Howard St. in Chicago, rents 5x5storage spaces for $28 per month and 5×10 spaces for $37 per month,with an additional $150 deposit. If transportation is a problem,students can rent a moving truck starting at $39.95 for half aday.
Weinberg junior Eben Lowe has used Public Storage for the lastthree years.
“Over the phone they are often witless, not helpful andseemingly ignorant about their own facility,” Lowe said. “But inperson, confronted with the reality of a paying customer, they arepolite and helpful.”
“A five-by-five split by three people is the ideal arrangement,”he added. “Be sure to get a space on the upper floors because theirbasement and first floor flood occasionally.”
