SEATTLE & TOKYO -- Two new ideas are being implemented in different parts of the world to combat the problem of getting food and other goods to difficult places. Stockbox, a new Seattle-based startup company that was recently funded on Kickstarter, is bring fresh food to "food deserts" in the Northwest with a new convenience store-like concept, according to a report in Fast Company.
"Stockbox Grocers is a convenient mini store that is tucked into a reclaimed shipping container and placed into the parking lot of an existing business or organization," the company said on its website. "Imagine dozens of stores, located throughout urban food deserts and within walking distance of home, work, or school. The stores are small, but they are designed to offer the produce and essential grocery items needed to get through the week."
Stockbox Grocer plans to sell a range of fresh food, meat and dairy. The group opened its first prototype about two weeks ago in the Delridge area of Seattle, said the report. It wants to open two permanent sites in early 2012, and at least two more later in the year.
Stockbox picked Delridge because car-less residents currently have a 45-minute bus ride to the nearest decent grocery store, Carrie Ferrence, Stockbox's co-founder, told the publication.
"It's mostly gas stations and convenience stores. There aren't even many restaurants. While there are stores within a couple of miles, there are no direct bus lines. It's difficult to get out of the community, and get somewhere with greater access," she said.
"Location matters," Mari Gallagher, an expert on food access issues, told Fast Company. Solutions to the food desert problem have ranged from engaging big stores like Wal-Mart, to new transport services, to food trucks.
The advantage of shipping containers is that they are relatively cheap compared to bricks abd mortar, said the report. They are flexible, and Stockbox can work on format designs off site. The permanent stores will have a full HVAC system for heating and refrigeration, as well as water.
Stockbox's founders are graduates of Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA program, which fosters "sustainable business" entrepreneurs. Terrence and her partner Jacqueline Gjurgevich, who graduated in June, developed the idea during their second year, and have since raised about $50,000, including $20,000 via Kickstarter.
Ferrence says it's too early to say whether the model can be replicated outside the Northwest. But she said the aim of Stockbox is not only to help solve the food desert problem, but wider community issues. "Our goal is to bring food back into community, and that is something that resonates in all kinds of places. And we also think that to grow to scale we need to work with different communities."
Click here to visit Stockbox's Facebook page and to view a photo gallery.
Tsunami Inspired
Meanwhile, to deliver basic products and services to the hardest tsunami-hit regions of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima in Japan, Family Mart, the country's major convenience store operator, is rolling out roving c-stores designed to look exactly like its regular outlets with the same shelving and baskets, reported The Tokyo Times. The shop-on-the-wheels contain up to 300 food and household items, from bento box lunches and cup noodles to soft drinks and confectionary. The facilities will also be able to take in orders from customers.
With the mobile trucks, Family Mart hopes to contribute to the recovery efforts of the country by bringing services conveniently to disaster-hit areas where stores have been destroyed or are not accessible to the people.
The roving trucks are further designed to preserve vegetables and other varieties of perishable items, said the report. They have also power generators so they can be operated for a week without the necessary refueling.
Three mobile c-stores are initially being launched this month in the disaster-hit areas, but there are plans to street as many as 100 mobile trucks for the coming year.
The shop-on-the-wheels will have stopping points in three different locations in a day with operating hours from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
"We hope to support recovery in disaster-hit areas and also, in future, support areas where it is currently inconvenient for shopping," a Family Mart spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph in a separate report.
In the aftermath of the March 11 disaster, a number of major Japanese c-store operators toured the region in makeshift trucks to provide essentials to displaced victims; however, the new Family Mart mobile trucks are a specifically designed project that the company was planning even before the disaster, with a view to gaining access to the most remote regions in the country.
See the June 2011 issue of CSP magazine for a feature report on how c-stores are rising to the food desert challenge.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.