A 900-square-foot office building was already in the works, so the 2,100-square-foot laundromat was added next to the office at the storage location.”
The entrepreneurial spirit has always tugged at his sleeve. And after working for others since the age of 18, Scott Matheny felt the pull do bigger and better things. So, in 2008, he opened his first self-storage facility on 16th Avenue in Laurel, a business that he sold in 2022.
Now Matheny is excited to bring his experience and energy to his new home town of Ellisville, and has opened a state-of-the-art storage and laundry facility at 21 Warrior Road, just behind South Jones Elementary School.
HomeTown Storage was the vision Matheny had for the Ellisville property he purchased back in 2021.
Matheny’s family roots extend far back in Ellisville and Jones County. His grandparents Elbert and Dolly Cromwell owned and operated Cromwell Grocery on Dubose Street back in the 1970’s. His dad Bill Matheny probably sold your parents or other family members a car back in the day. His mom Anita went to Ellisville Elementary back in the ’50’s and ’60’s.
As a young boy, Matheny would often spend time at the grocery store, meeting residents, helping out where he could, learning how to deal with others. That heritage has always influenced his business standards.
Creating a new storage facility was old hat for Matheny, but adding a self-service laundry at the same site? That was somewhat of a revelation for him.
Matheny is now renting a house in Ellisville and will soon be joined by his fianceé early next year. Without a washing machine or dryer, he was regularly taking his clothes to a nearby laundromat. Many of those trips wound up taking three or more hours to complete.
“It was not very nice, the place was not clean, there were no attendants on duty and half of the machines would be out of order,” Matheny said. “It was so unappealing, and I thought that there had to be a better option.”
So, the idea of a self-service laundry became Matheny’s second business plan, and a friend convinced him to marry the two enterprises on the same property. A 900-square-foot office building was already in the works, so the 2,100-square-foot laundromat was added next to the office at the storage location.
The laundromat is now open and offers 20 washing machines and 24 dryers of varying capacities. It is clean enough to eat a biscuit off the shiny glass-like floors, and there is a bilingual attendant at the site every day. A personalized wash-and-fold service will be offered beginning in January, allowing additional convenience for those on the go.
“It is so comfortable in here,” Matheny said. “If you make it nice and you make it clean, people feel better and you get a better clientele.” The entire facility is monitored with security cameras for added safety.
Located just behind the laundry, the HomeTown storage units are also open, with 164 storage units of varying sizes — 82 of which are inside a climate-controlled building.
There is a growing demand for storage capacity, especially for facilities that are well-lighted, accessible, clean and safe, Matheny said, adding that HomeTown Storage measures up to all of those standards.
HomeTown Storage offers handicapped-accessible storage units in climate-controlled and non-climate controlled units, making it one of the first inclusive storage facilities in the local area. Those units feature fixtures that are located lower to the ground and easy-access as well as level flooring.
“Our generation is finding that we are inheriting, and thus collecting a lot more things,” Matheny said. “Many of these items are sentimental, such as heirlooms and family furniture we just can’t get rid of, and also seasonal items that we only use once a year, but need to store.”
The units are easy to access and protected around the clock with 24 security cameras that monitor the fenced-in grounds and buildings.
For more, call 601-349-8202 or go to www.hometownstorageofellisville.com.
