STARBUCKS Cargo Container Store
Basically they (and others) purchase used old shipping containers and refurbish them. There are companies out there that will refurbish them for you too.
What this article does NOT discuss is what the health department has to say about these constructions, especially what materials are needed for refurbishing. Nor what kind of permit needed to "rent or purchase" land to put these containers on. Nor what the cost is to have these shipping containers refurbished.
If one rents land to put these "restaurants" on them, how much is it to run utility lines into them?
The old Victoria Station Restaurant(s) had a similar concept using train freight cars, HOWEVER, they sat the customers, and were build around a free standing building that housed the kitchen.
Notice that the boxcar's were for seating and salad bar only. Such things as handicapped bathrooms, gas, water, electric & hood systems were in a BUILDING that had these as part of the construction build out.
The Starbucks version supposedly is not a dine-in, but a type of to-go drive thru. How do they hook up a 3 tier sink to clean, employee hand sink, let alone employee rest room? Do they have a porta potty? Your clue may be as good as mine, because the article didn't delve into THOSE aspects.
Upon further research into companies that sell and/or refurbish these shipping containers, they do not show full service kitchens (at least from what I could find) but instead some photo's of tables and chairs for customers to sit down in. Again, is this dining-in aspect just a take off from the Victoria Station concept?
The article regarding this Starbucks states that they are easy to break down and transport (allowing for other businesses of the same sort to come in and do the same thing).
While this is a good idea to save these shipping containers from land fills and kind of looks cool, at what cost? One still has to have these "restaurants" up to code, as well as purchasing equipment. Doesn't it make better financial success to just lease a free standing building or an outlet in a strip mall?
I wonder IF one of these "restaurants" (if it's serving food cooked on the premises) HAS to have a free standing building as Victoria Station did, or if there are certain perimeter's that the health department has come up with to have the full service kitchen (hood, grease trap etc etc) INSIDE one of these containers?
When and if Starbucks packs up and leaves with these shipping containers, "allowing" others to come in and do the same thing, will there be yet even more permits for the new business to get before setting up?
View some of my recipes at Doreens Kitchen as well as purchase my
CD Cookbook with BONUS Magic Pan recipes for $12
