Scheduled for a 2026 grand opening, U-Haul of
Ridgefield will offer 850 indoor
climate-controlled storage rooms
RIDGEFIELD,
Wash., June 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The official
"Birthplace of U-Haul" will finally be welcoming its own U-Haul
store, eight decades after the Company's first trailers were made
in a milk barn on the Carty Family Ranch in Ridgefield.
U-Haul® will build a modern retail,
moving and self-storage center, as well as a warehouse for
U-Box® portable storage containers, on a 5.75-acre lot
at 17601 NE Union Road. The property was purchased on May 24.
U-Haul Moving & Storage of Ridgefield is scheduled for a grand opening in
2026.
Plans for the Ridgefield store include a 94,764-square-foot,
three-story center featuring 850 indoor climate-controlled
self-storage units with high-tech security features at
affordable price points. Customers will have access to moving
trucks and trailers, boxes and moving supplies, towing equipment
and professional hitch installation, U-Box and much more.
Download the U-Haul app or contact Reservations
at 1-800-GO-UHAUL.
"Ridgefield
locals understand that we started here from our U-Haul birthplace
sign at the first roundabout heading into downtown, or from the
historic Carty Unit and Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge," stated U-Haul
Area District Vice President Dan
Flatten, whose territory includes southern Washington.
"But I do get asked a lot why we don't have a
center here. I'm thrilled I can now respond that we have one on the
way that will be conveniently located right off Interstate 5,
minutes from the Clark County Fairgrounds. We look forward to
celebrating our roots with a beautiful facility, creating jobs and
meeting a basic need for this community – which we call home."
In 1945, U.S. Navy veteran L.S. "Sam" Shoen and
wife Anna Mary Carty Shoen came
up with the idea for U-Haul while driving up the West
Coast. They had just sold many of their personal belongings, unable
to rent a one-way trailer for their move from Los Angeles to the Portland area (Ridgefield is a 24-mile drive north of
Oregon's largest city). At that
time, such an industry did not exist.
William E. "Hap" Carty (1927-2022), one of
Ridgefield's favorite sons and the
first U-Haul employee, helped his sister and brother-in-law with
their upstart company that same year while on leave from the U.S.
Army, fabricating trailers on his family's dairy farm.
The process has become a bit more streamlined
since then. Today, U-Haul offers do-it-yourself movers access to
nearly 372,000 trucks, trailers and towing devices at more than
23,000 rental sites across the U.S. and Canada, empowering families to attain
residential mobility at a low cost.
U-Haul has two neighborhood dealers renting
equipment in Ridgefield, but its
nearest Company-owned facility is U-Haul Storage of Hazel Dell at 8250 NE Hwy. 99 in Vancouver, Wash.
Flatten plans to hire up to 20 Team Members to
staff the new store when ready. U-Haul will look to hire locally to
promote job growth within the Ridgefield community. U-Haul, honored as a
Best for Vets employer by The Military Times, actively recruits
veterans and gives them preference in the hiring process. Find
U-Haul careers at uhauljobs.com.
About U-HAUL
Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No.
1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 23,000 rental
locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The
U-Haul app makes it easy for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share
24/7 to access trucks anytime through the self-dispatch and -return
options on their smartphones with our patented Live Verify
technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet
to grow to 188,700 trucks, 139,400 trailers and 43,700 towing
devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in
North America with 1,004,000
rentable units and 86.8 million square feet of self-storage space
at Company-owned and -managed facilities. U-Haul is the top
retailer of propane in the U.S. and the largest installer of
permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry.
Get the U-Haul app from the App
Store or Google Play.
Contact:
Yasmine
Esparza
Jeff Lockridge
E-mail: publicrelations@uhaul.com
Phone: 602-263-6194
Website: uhaul.com
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SOURCE U-Haul