Another day dawns, and you can still expect shipping containers to pop up in any old place, taking the form of rooftop cabanas, condos, libraries, artist communes, even pretty stunning homes. Now, Taco Bell has officially joined the party, building its first pop-up shipping container store at the branding extravaganza that is South By Southwest.
According to a press release, the pop-up (outside the tenth annual "Hype Hotel" at 1100 East 5th Street, in Austin) could drive Taco Bell to "explore dropping this type of asset in different locations, which will ultimately give us the ability to show up in unexpected places for our consumers." The brand also plans "to make this specific Container Restaurant a permanent location and are currently looking at several locations." Sounds like a good way to do a bit of field research for how they might better design the 2,000 new U.S. locations they plan to open by 2022.
Because of how quick and cheap the shipping container solution is (it took three days to lay down the one at SXSW) we might be seeing a lot more of these boxes-turned-fast foot joints in the future. Starbucks, for one, is already on it.
No, you haven't been forgotten, endangered original Taco Bell.