Over a hundred traders have opened their doors at the long-awaited 27Boxes Shopping Centre with brands ranging from clothing to coffee; food, furniture and fashion;décor to donuts; biltong, bikes, bags, bistros and bus tours;art to architects and galleries to gardening for kids. The centre is a platform for pop-up shops, designers, artists and crafters to showcase their wares. With the benefit of exposure and the reasonably priced rentals, it makes the ideal home for entrepreneurs.
Visitors can shop, enjoy a meal on the Boardwalk while socialising with friends, and families can keep an eye on their children playing in the kiddies’ park. There is no need to worry about parking as there is space for over 150 cars underground.
Citiq’s CEO Paul Lapham says that every effort has been made to ensure that the tenant mix remains diverse and of a high standard. “Each tenant has been selected according to a strict set of criteria to ensure an eclectic mix of options, guaranteed to suit every taste.Small businesses can rent affordable space in a secure and central environment while taking advantage of the cosmopolitan crowds that the centre attracts,”he says.
As the first of its kind in South Africa, the development has been built entirely from shipping containers with a mix of brick and concrete to add a further dimension to the design. It is a fundamental departure from traditional shopping malls,bringing to the bohemian atmosphere of Melvilleaconstantly-changing shopping experience. The stores have single units and by combining containers, larger stores are created. Rentals range from R2 800 for a single store and a double store will cost R4 800.In addition, prepaid meters have been installed in the stores so tenants can better manage and reduce their usage of electricity.
Low rentals are a function of the small shop spaces. In a traditional shopping centre, shops average in size anywhere from 30 square meters up to a thousand square meters for a big national retailer. By using shipping containers thestores are a lot smaller - a container measures 28 square meters, and half a container 14 square meters. The generous interiors allowtenants to make use of the corridors to createa traditional market environment. Clearly, the benefits lie in the foot traffic that is generated, as well as the value in operating in a small store.
“Our architectural team toured Europe inspecting shipping container developments and retail centres, to see how they could build something differently and better. From Boxpark in London (a renowned and successful shopping centre built entirely from shipping containers) and the George Pompidou Centre in Paris (a bold and world-famous statement of industrial design), they put together ideas which laid the foundation of our concept and produced a shopping centre that is at the forefront of international design - of which Johannesburg can be proud.
“27Boxes has generated much interest and excitement from both tenants and the public. Building with containers is by no means cheap construction. Containers still need the required finishes of a conventional building, delivered by professionals, so the cost saving is not that significant. Using containers does, however, enable us to fast-track the construction process resulting in a fresh architectural dynamic, revealing a building of true value for the neighborhood,” says Lapham.
