About this episode
Presenting two stories from The Economics of Everyday Things: Why does it seem like every car is black, white, or gray these days? And: How self-storage took over America. SOURCES: Tom Crockett, classic car enthusiast. Zachary Dickens , executive vice president and chief investment officer of Extra Space Storage. Mark Gutjahr , global head of design at BASF. Kara Kolodziej, self-storage unit tenant. Anne Mari DeCoster , self-storage consultant. Nikkie Riedel , carline planning manager at Subaru of America. RESOURCES: “ A Fifth Of Americans Rent Self Storage, With Millennials Overtaking Gen Xers In Generational Storage Wars ,” by Francis Chantree ( Storage Cafe, 2024). “ Lessors of Mini Warehouses and Self-Storage Units Show Significant Financial Gains During COVID-19 Pandemic ,” by Ben Chandler and Robin Enlow (United States Census Bureau, 2024). BASF Color Report 2023 for Automotive OEM Coatings , (2023). “ The Fate of Oversupplied Self-Storage Markets and How to Pull Back From the Brink ,” by Frank DeSalvo and David Perlleshi ( Inside Self Storage, 2023). “ A Pandemic Space Race: Self-Storage Roars Back ,” by Ellen Rosen ( The New York Times, 2021). “ Beige on an S.U.V. Will Cost You, but for Pickups It’s Golden ,” by Roy Furchgott ( The New York Times, 2021). “ A Brief History Of Car Colors — And Why Are We So Boring Now? ” ( Consumer Reports, 2018). “ The Link Between the Colour of Cars and the Economy ,” ( The Economist, 2018). “ Need to Store That? Booming Self-Storage Industry Says No Problem ,” by Liam Pleven ( The Wall Street Journal, 2015). EXTRAS: “ Car Washes ,” by The Economics of Everyday Things (2023). Storage Wars , TV series (2010-present). Auction Hunters , TV series (2010-2015). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.