Repurposed shipping containers could soon serve as pop-up retail sites for small businesses in Sault Ste. Marie.
The city is exploring the idea of acquiring several of the units, which would be placed at various sites around the city for use by local enterprises as small retail shops.
Tom Vair, the city’s deputy CAO of community development and enterprise services, said shipping containers are just one type of modular unit city staff is examining for the purpose.
Among the suggested sites are along the waterfront, including the boardwalk and at the city’s famed Bondar pavilion, and within the downtown pedestrian plaza, which is currently in development.
“So what we envision is these modular units would be able to be moved and located in different areas of the city based on the need,” Vair said during an Aug. 10 virtual meeting of council.
“Some of them are very basic and would be a mobile retail unit that the side could open up and serve patrons; others of them could include being outfitted with kitchen-type facilities.”
Vair said the city could offer business owners a range of rental options.
In other cities where the practice has been adopted, some units are set up as small-business incubators, allowing a fledgling entrepreneur to use the space temporarily while they get their venture up and running.
That’s also a potential option for the Sault, Vair said.
“We have seen in other communities programs that were launched that were almost an incubator, where they allowed an entrepreneur to try out retail or a service business in one of these modular units, and the idea being that if it was successful they would graduate and take up a storefront in the downtown,” Vair said.
“So there’s a mix of different ideas that we have for these containers that we will bring back to council.”
Before fully committing to the idea, city staff are investigating a range of modular units and the pricing that goes with them.
Once complete, a full analysis will come back to council for consideration.
