What is a Shipping Container?
Shipping Container Pop Up Shops in Vancouver
One great thing about repurposed shipping containers is that they are almost endlessly versatile. As shown in The Shipping Container in Vancouver, Canada, the very same unit can have a variety of guises over time – this one is being converted several times into different pop up retail and food outlets.
The Shipping Container
The space, which is situated outside Shaw Tower, has been set up for five pop up businesses to test the waters for their offerings. According to Vancouver news and culture website Straight.com, it “housed local confectionery Beta5 Chocolates last week, during which the award-winning sweets shop sold a variety of ice-cream sandwiches.
Image source: Beta 5 Instagram
Until August 13, the vessel will be home to Vancouver’s The Juice Truck, which will offer bottled cold-pressed juices, and To Die For, which will peddle plant-based banana breads and lemon loaves.”
In addition, the shipping container has had a restaurant and other local businesses hoping to make their mark on the community. It was open until last week as the weather starts changing into autumn.
Vancouver House
Image source: Daily Hive
This pop up shipping container unit has been opened to give Vancouverites a taste of things to come when the nearby 497 ft tall Vancouver House skyscraper is completed. At the new building’s entrances will be a number of shipping containers with public retail spaces.
The new building – not built of shipping containers! – is designed to be a gateway to the city and a cultural centre for those who live, work and play in the area.
Flexibility and temporary use
As you will gather, looking at the Gateway Gazette, there is almost nothing that can’t be done with shipping containers. One of their greatest facets is that they are sturdy, yet movable, structures that can be changed and redecorated almost at will. This is why a chocolatier and a bistro kitchen can work successively in the single unit.
Another aspect of the shipping container popup concept is that in many cases, you really don’t have to deal with local bureaucracy in terms of planning consent – planning is for permanent structures and local officials are often a lot happier with a temporary structure that actively contributes to the life of a town or city. Variety is the spice of life, and these units can draw people into otherwise quiet and underused parts of town.
Another important aspect is that the units can be dropped on derelict land while planning and development is planned to reinvigorate the area. This is why you see a variety of shipping container entertainment units in different towns and cities worldwide. Properly planned and with good business sense, these units can be profitable for those who are involved in the project. For tenants they can test business models, from the avant garde restaurant or juice bar at a relatively low cost, to a six month lease on a permanent unit. If the business flies they can get investment from a proven test and go onto trade in another, more permanent site.
The best thing about The Shipping Container is that the same unit is converted multiple times for the same site – that shows just how endless the possibilities are of repurposing shipping containers.
Gateway Container Sales
If this article has triggered some thoughts about your own pop up site, then do give us a call, or get a free quote. For very little cost you can buy a used shipping container, move it and convert it with very few practical issues.
Related Topics
