Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.
Issue link: http://shoppingcenterbusiness.epubxp.com/i/903727
SHIPPING CONTAINERS 116 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • December 2017 Part of SteelCraft's success is that it has become a destination for residents and travelers alike. People travel from all over to participate in what SteelCraft has to offer." The third project, SteelCraft Bellflow- er, will occupy a 15,000-square-foot, city- owned lot on Bellflower Boulevard and Oak Street. The project will include two additional food tenants, a second story and covered barn seating. Bellflower isn't necessarily undergoing a specific re-imagination, though the city is optimistic that novel projects like Steel- Craft can usher in an era of reinvention as it continues to compete for jobs, residents and retail attractions. "We are excited to welcome SteelCraft and its rapidly growing reputation as a unique dining and social experience into Downtown Bellflower," says City Coun- cil Member Juan Garza. "It will comple- ment our niche retail stores and deli- cious home-grown restaurants perfectly, and continues Downtown Bellflower's growing renaissance and reputation as a desired destination in our region." The development is estimated to gen- erate $50,000 in annual sales tax and an additional $22,000 in annual lease reve- nue for the City of Bellflower. The Garden Grove outpost is sched- uled to open in mid-2018 with Bellflower following suit later that year. Many may wonder why cities and devel- opers would opt for shipping container eateries when food trucks provide much of the same experience. To Petitogut, however, this is a no-brainer. "Food trucks and container restaurants are two totally different beasts, with dif- ferent opportunities and challenges," she explains. "Food trucks are under some scrutiny with municipalities because they currently operate under the Department of Transportation [DOT], so the codes and inspection processes are very differ- ent. As the DOT becomes stricter with the health and safety codes, operating a food truck will become more difficult." Boxman delivers its restaurant contain- ers up to code. They also include climate control, ADA (Americans with Disabil- ities Act) accessibility and the resources necessary to be turnkey operational, mi- nus the food ingredients. These can be crucial differences between the two ves- sels when lunchtime rolls around. "For example, a food truck has a maxi- mum water supply capacity of 30 gallons," Petitogut continues. "Once the truck runs out of water, it is required to shut down. Our container restaurants can tie into the existing water supply, so businesses aren't limited by water capacity." She also notes that the cost of a turn- key restaurant container varies, but that the turn-around time can easily affect an eatery's bottom line in a positive way. "Speed to market is very important, par- ticularly in food service," she notes. "Ev- ery week a restaurant isn't operating, it's losing 2 percent gross profit. So, opening sooner is important for restaurants. We can shorten the timeframe for opening day by 30 percent to 50 percent com- pared to a brick-and-mortar restaurant opening." This was the case at Zatar, a Mediter- ranean container restaurant at Missouri University of Science and Technology (MOS&T;) in Rolla, Missouri, that Box- man developed in partnership with the Compass Group. The campus needed to supply new dining options for its student body, which would soon be returning to school for the spring semester, making it Chick-fil-A has used container-based restaurants as temporary locations while its permanent stores are renovated. Pictured is a temporary unit on site in Rome, Georgia. Container retail is flexible, and often quick to implement. Zatar, a container restaurant in Rolla, Missouri, was operational less than one week after the container's delivery.