_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MORE BIZ PODS: Business In a Box Clothing Stores -- UNIQLO ExpansionAnother hot use for BizPods was brought to our attention by one of our ISBA Members in New York who is a NYC architect. He said he was already in one of the UNIQLO kiosk type stores and was blown away with it's interior. He had to step outside again just to be sure where he really was, stating, "although their clothes are quite pricey, I think many people were buying simply because of the unique shipping container store concept". "It was almost like being at a tourist attraction and buying a souvenirs", he said. Global Marketing Concept In an exclusive interview with a UNIQLO spokesman in New York this week, we were told they began testing the shipping container concept last year and the customer response was extremely favorable. Although their focus is to have stores in large expensive shopping malls globally, the ISBU modules are an excellent source of publicity, not just immediate income at the mobile locations. She went on to say they use them at concerts and sporting events and are very pleased with the results. Unlimited Possibilities UNIQLO joins the global corporate trend toward construction using ISBU shipping containers commercially. After careful studies, companies such as UNIQLO, Travelodge, Illy's, Gusto Di Vita, Sun Microsystems and hundreds of smaller companies have found the cost, simplicity, and security were the assets of ISBU use and construction. Prefab T-shirt shops, souvenirs, snacks, coffee, NFL shops and concerts will be some of the prime business models. UNIQLO is not wide spread in the US, however their US locations are doing a brisk business in some very trendy East coast shopping malls. They presently have locations in upscale malls in the UK, US, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and China. They call themselves "Fast Retailers" and are listed as one of the top 10 clothing retailers in the world. With 760 retail stores world wide, they are also presently Japans largest and most successful wearing apparel chain. Popular Trend It should be obvious to our readers and Members that ISBU modules and the BizPods concept is virtually unlimited. As the president of Gusto Di Vita said to us last week, they believe that with the BizPods concept, they can now build many types of BizPods and not simply limited to the Coffee kiosks. Gusto Di Vita are builders of private brand business kiosks and to build clothing kiosks using the BizPods concept may even be easier for them than the food type kiosks. Although they are very successful with Coffee kiosks, Gusto Di Vita will be offering some other BizPod design options on their website in weeks to come. The strength of and ISBU shipping container based business is it's total security. The UNIQLO and others simply leave all inventory at the end of the day, lock the solid steel doors and go home with the wireless digital security system still running. This secure Pod is what's fueling the trend of ISBU construction in the US and globally. Self Contained Energy For BizPods Uses for shipping container BizPods are virtually unlimited and another plus the non-food business types such as the clothing stores is they have very low energy consumption; lighting, cash register and heating/cooling are easier. With the newer Solar Cell technologies developed last year, a BizPod using LED lighting, heat pumps, and digital surveillance systems can be supported 100% with roof mount Solar panels, allowing the connection and set up of BizPods to be much simpler. (We are presently writing a complete news story on Solar Energy products for ISBU).
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