STORING YOUR “STUFF” AT LEE’S MINI STORAGE
If you’re a pack rat like me, finding a place to store some of your precious “stuff” is a top priority. And at Lee’s Mini Storage (1245 Rogue River Highway), they’re there for you.
The storage unit was the brainchild of Vernon and Rozella Beck, who’d moved to Grants Pass in 1968 hoping to raise their four kids in a different environment than Southern California.
“After investigating many areas of Oregon, we decided on Southern Oregon, with its very unique weather and a small town of about 13,000,” Rozella said. “But we needed a source of income. From 1968 to 1995, we sold recreational vehicles and manufactured homes, going through the ups and downs of events that affect a business. We also developed real estate subdivisions so people could buy their mobile homes and rent a site location. In the 1990s we leased what we called the mobile home sales lot out to another dealer. Over the years we had built a big shop and moved two other offices onto the Rogue River address and needed to do something productive with the rest of the land. That’s when we began to investigate the storage business.”
After investigating the ins and out of the business, they put together a game plan and came up with Lee’s Mini Storage, the only mini storage in Southern Oregon with radiant floors.
“All of the floors stay dry even in winter,” Rozella said. “The moisture does not come up through the concrete. The facility is all steel and concrete construction. The buildings have rain gutters on them, so if you have to move items while it’s raining, you don’t have water running off the roof and down your neck. The driveways all slope to the center with an underground drainage system so the water will not run into the units.”
So after implementing all those ideas, Vernon and Rozella opened Lee’s Mini Storage on October 1, 2000. “We soon became the recipient of items that were overflowing from people’s garages and needed a nice place to be stored,” Rozella said. “That was only the first phase of our mini storage business. In 2009-2011 we built the second phase, which we opened in mid-2011 with an open house and were honored to have had Clyde Drexler, a Dream Team member and a retired Houston Rocket and Portland Trailblazer, here to cut the ribbon. He also signed autographs for many of the Lee’s Mini Storage customers and future customers who came to the open house.”
Vernon was an Iowa farmer and drafted into the military for the Korean War, where he served for 14 months, while Rozella and their son continued to live on the farm in Iowa. Returning to the U.S., Vernon got a taste of the West Coast weather, and two years later the family moved to California. He spent years in the retail industry and ended as Sales Manager for Anthony Pools.
Meanwhile, Rozella was busy operating their Beck’s School of Baton, putting to use her experience as a state baton twirling champion in Iowa. She was also a starting guard on the 1952 Iowa State Championship girls’ basketball team. The small-town team played its way through the division to be the last team standing in the entire state. Along with operating and teaching at the Baton School, Rozella was also doing her most important job of raising three girls and one boy.
At Lee’s Mini Storage, Rozella and Vernon worked side by side on many projects during their 67 years of marriage. Vernon went to his new home in the sky in 2019, but Rozella stayed behind to run the businesses.
“We have great customers who use their assigned private code to open and close the gate for them as they enter and exit this very special facility,” Rozella said. “We have several different sized units for rent which you can select from that will meet your needs. For monthly rent payments we take cash, check, and credit cards. You can pay in person or set up one of our remote payment systems. We have some very special employees to help with your needs. We have live people who answer your phone calls and provide you with requested information.”
For more information, the phone number is 541-472-9693. You can also see them at lees-mini-storage.com.
