Shipping
containers are being increasingly used for retail and residential space. Atlantic Cities writes
about some of the applications. In
appropriate sites and with good site engineering, they can provide a quick and
effective response to changing urban conditions.
Pop-up
retail spaces, quickly installed stores often with a limited intended life, are
frequently used to bridge the gap between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar
stores. Knowledge@Wharton offers a perspective on the
philosophy behind pop-ups. Atlantic Cities offers
thoughts on the related concept of temporary cities.
Pop-ups can
also be used to meet short-term social or neighborhood revitalization
needs. Several
restaurateurs in Oklahoma City are setting up pop-up restaurants to
feed the victims of the recent tornadoes and to raise relief funds. And a string of pop-ups was recently used to
kick-start a moribund commercial district in Oakland.
The container
and pop-up trends are separate and distinct.
But they can overlap in marvelous ways.
After devastating earthquakes struck Christchurch, New Zealand,
Re:Start, a pop-up retail mall that made extensive use of containers was among
the first businesses to begin serving the stricken town, restoring a sense of
normalcy. After a year, Re-Start remains in operation.
I found all of this interesting, but it didn’t seem pertinent to the North Bay. Until I chanced upon a pop-up business in a shipping container and had my eyes opened.
It was in
Carlsbad, a coastal community in northern San Diego County. Carlsbad is largely comprised of vast
ridgelines of stucco palaces, about which I’ll write another time. But in the center of the car-centric sprawl
is a downtown shopping district that somehow survives from another age. And on a key downtown intersection is a
pop-up waffle shop, Boxd, in a shipping container.
I stumbled across
Boxd during recent travels. My interest
piqued, my traveling companion and I stopped for a mid-afternoon snack, a fresh
waffle laden with peanut butter and strawberry preserves. In exchange for the small purchase, I posed
questions to the counter person.
had a grudge against the city, so chose not to sell the lot to the city. After his passing, the city was finally able to acquire the lot, but funds were too tight to create a new city park.
Instead, Boxd
filled the void. In exchange for a land
lease, the waffle shop installed a container for a small restaurant, another
container to serve as a downtown restroom, and enough tables and artificial
turf to create an eating area. With a
few details such as old-style lamp posts, the site made an appealing addition to
downtown.
According to
the counter person, there was no significant obstruction from the brick-and-mortar
stores in downtown. Nor was the City
building department a major hurdle, despite the unusual structure. However, when I first spotted the business on
the evening before my snack, an employee was on the roof installing a vent
despite the business having been open almost a year. So there seemed to be a least a few issues
with shipping container approach.
The counter person didn’t know the term of the City lease. However, I can see a use like Boxd being a land-banking operation. It would allow a short-term productive and aesthetic use of a piece of property until economics can justify brick-and-mortar.
So, can Boxd
provide a model for the North Bay? My
thoughts went immediately to the Petaluma Station Area.
As the
Station Area plan is implemented, two potentially contradictory goals must be
met. First, multiple buildings must be
constructed, requiring sequential staging throughout the Station Area. Second, the rail passengers must be made to
feel comfortable so their daily patterns become engrained.
It seems
that a containerized pop-up coffee stand could help achieve the latter goal
without getting in the way of the former.
The business could be a container or two that are moved to new locations
in the Station Area as construction progresses and as the access routes of the
train passengers evolve.
Perhaps the
initial site for the containers would be close to the SMART station. But as the initial buildings near
construction, which would hopefully happen soon, the containers could be moved
closer to D Street, a route by which many passengers will approach the
station. Later, as the length of
Transverse Street nearest to the station is completed, perhaps another location
for the containers can be found adjoining that alignment.
At this
time, it’s a premature idea, but I think there’s worth in it.
Back to Boxd. You may be wondering about my thoughts on the
waffle. It was fine, but I was surprised
at how runny peanut butter becomes when enclosed in a fresh-from-the-griddle
waffle. The flavors were excellent, but
the messiness factor was high. If I
again find myself in Carlsbad, I’d probably be more tempted by the pulled pork and slaw waffle.
As always,
your questions or comments will be appreciated.
Please comment below or email me.
And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)
The Biergarten in San Francisco, an offshoot of the Suppenküche German restaurant, uses shipping containers. And I still haven't been, I really need to go check it out. Here are a couple of photos:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/barbites/article/Biergarten-in-S-F-Food-beer-in-great-outdoors-2371880.php#photo-1899570
Eklit, thanks for the comment. Yeah, the Biergarten looks much like Boxd. I also need to visit there.
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