Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.
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SHIPPING CONTAINERS 112 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • December 2017 W hat's that thing everyone al- ways says about millennials? That they crave new experi- ences, novel environments and locally produced items that have a story — or at least a little substance — behind them? Yes, that's it. Ask and ye shall receive. They'll even ship this request to you. Well, maybe not right to your door, but straight off a boat and into your nearest underused plot of viable land. We're talking shipping containers, which have become the new avant-garde approach to traditional retail experiences. "I think any time you can find a new creative use for an item or a space it is going to capture interest," says Hartley Rodie, who is developing the Churchill, a 16-container shopping and dining proj- ect on North 1st Street in Phoenix that is scheduled to open in fall 2018. Being a millennial himself, Rodie and his partner, Kell Duncan, both 29, were inspired to undertake this new project after examining what was missing — both within their own lives and within their community. "Neither of us felt fulfilled by our areas of focus, so the question became 'what's next?'" he says. "I knew whatever it was going to be, for me, it was important to provide positive value to the surrounding community. The inner entrepreneur in me thought — for better or worse — my great- est impact could be in a profit-with-pur- pose endeavor. I remember being real- ly inspired when I heard about Tom's Shoes." LOCALLY BASED, LOCALLY SERVED Rodie believes his project's prof- it-paired-with-philanthropy approach will appeal to area residents who are looking for something different from the standard big box store found in power centers or flailing national apparel chain dotting malls. "The Churchill is founded on a simple idea: to bridge the gap between Phoenix residents and local businesses while do- ing something positive for the surround- ing community," he continues. "All of the businesses in the Churchill are local and hand-selected. We have a mix of estab- lished operators and start-up businesses." The Churchill will add "purpose" to the area not only through its unique mix of local restaurants, bars and retail shops, but through these tenants' commitments to each other and to the local community. "Each business, as written in the lease, is required to fulfill 'marketing rent,' as well as 'social rent,' in addition to their month- ly rent," Rodie explains. "To complete marketing rent, each tenant must use their social media pages to cross promote with another business within the Churchill. We do this to encourage collaboration over competition. Social rent requires each of our tenants to complete four hours of community service each month. In addi- tion to social rent, tenants and custom- ers have the option to partake in weekly service outings or monthly fundraisers organized by the Churchill management." Rodie's philanthropic spirit was in- spired by Tom's, while the idea for social rent was suggested by the owner of Pop Brixton, a shipping container park in Lon- don. This entrepreneurial drive paired with a give-back approach is reminiscent of another famous face on the shipping container shopping center scene. Tony Hsieh, founder of online shoe store Zappos, which heads up the Soles- 4Souls shoe donation program, among other philanthropic efforts, was the driv- ing force behind one of the first shipping container parks in America to garner attention. Downtown Container Park, which features 39 repurposed shipping containers and locally manufactured Xtreme Cubes, opened in 2013, rejuve- nating half a city block on 7th Street be- tween Carson Avenue and Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. The park, con- Containing Retail Once thought of solely as cargo boxes for the high seas, shipping containers have found a new life as an edgy, creative way for restaurants and retailers to get noticed. Nellie Day Las Vegas's Downtown Container Park features 39 repurposed shipping containers which house a number of local retailers and entertainment uses.