Northwind Self Storage is hoping a growing number of customers will find value in the security of the company’s expanding storage complex between Warrenton and Wright City.

Set back into a cleared woodland area, Northwind’s “Site 2” offers a sense of privacy and security, said Business Office Manager Nikki Melvin. With a lot of competition in the storage business, Melvin said Northwind is set apart by the highway accessibility and relative seclusion of the site, which is about 2 miles east of Warrenton on the North Service Road.

“It is such a nice lot. It feels very secluded, very private and very safe,” Melvin said. “Being right there off of the highway, it’s easy to access. The majority of our units in there are set up so it’s easy to back in if you need to, it’s easy to maneuver.”

Northwind provides a mix of indoor self-storage and RV parking at Site 2 and its original location just outside Warrenton on the North Service Road. It’s a business that’s been growing since it was founded a decade ago by owner Dennis Griffith.

Northwind is preparing to initiate a fourth phase of expansion at Site 2, Melvin said. The business started with 100 storage units, and has grown to more than 400 units plus RV parking.

Part of creating that growth has been providing a reliable and secure place for customers to store items that are important to them, said Melvin.

“Primarily for units, people are transitioning from one home to another. But then we also have many people who store collectibles or family memorabilia that’s precious,” she explained.

To keep those items secure, Northwind’s two sites are gated access and surrounded by barbed fencing, covered in security cameras and well-lit. The intent is for customers to always feel safe when they visit and leave items, Melvin said.

About 80 percent of the customers who come to Northwind are for long-term storage of six months or more, she explained. Along with local residents who just need a little extra room, Northwind helps with business storage that isn’t quite short-term, but doesn’t need to be permanent.

One current customer is an out-of-town telecom crew using the facility to store vehicles and supplies, Melvin commented.

“Safety and security is our primary concern,” said Melvin. “We really try to work with our customers. ... We definitely try to take into consideration a person’s relationship with us, and how they have been as a customer. We often waive security deposits and admin fees as a courtesy to them.”

Still, every once in a while Northwind has to navigate difficulties with a customer who refuses to pay their lease or vacates a storage unit without notice. In those situations, Melvin said her objective is to maintain communications with the customer to resolve the issue.

It isn’t often that the storage operators need to evict a tenant, but the small silver lining when they do is sometimes seeing interesting items come out of the units. Melvin said the most interesting piece she’s seen in her relatively short time with Northwind is an industrial Baskin Robins ice cream machine.