Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X X S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 2 4 16 S TA R T U P S / E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P e 20-employee company produces modular, envi- ronmentally friendly mobile retail and hospitality units using panels made from recycled plastics. Example includes L.L.Bean's summer "Beach Boxes" with free equipment for beachgoers and a three-year-long standalone store for Rugged Seas bags on Portland's waterfront that sold bags made from lobstermen's bibs. Outside of Maine, OpBox's clients include Corksickle, an Orlando, Fla.-based brand of tumblers, coolers and drinkware, for its holiday pop-up store last December outside New York City's Rockefeller Center near the famous tree and skating rink. Closer to home in New England, OpBox teamed in 2002 with UpNext, of Newton, Mass., to transform a South Boston parking lot into a multi-brand pop-up "village." Called the C Street Pop-Ups at Iron Works, it featured six rotating retail units, a wine bar and takeout gourmet grocery store. "We work with big and small brands, startups to small businesses, all using the same pop-up model," Ben Davis says. "It's a great equalizer." To date, the company has produced around 100 units, including one that was transported on skis to the top of Black Mountain in Rumford for an L.L.Bean winter ski promotion. e energy-efficient units come in three sizes and include heating and air conditioning. "For as little as $1,000 a month, you can be in an OpBox retail unit and run your whole business from inside," Davis says. "ere are few retail spaces in Portland where you can do that." As OpBox looks to expand its client base to the thousands, the plan is to offer its standard built struc- ture as kits. at's good news to Allison Yee, founder and CEO of UpNext, which also launched a project in 2021 to create pop-up incubators in municipalities to drive economic development. "So far it's just Massachusetts, but we get weekly inquiries from outside Massachusetts and even interna- tional," says Yee. "Maybe Maine could be next." Meeting a need For Black Box tenants on Washington Avenue, the Dayton Group charges $1,400 for a flexible, month- to-month lease that includes utilities and Wi-Fi for a space in the mini-business incubator. Since the Black Box opened in 2018, it has hosted around 15 businesses in addition to short-term pop-up with varying lengths of stays. Former tenants include the Cheese Shop of Portland, which is now based in a nearby brick-and-mortars store steps from where it started, and handbag designer Alice Yardley, who now leases space on Exchange Street in the city's Old Port. "We've had businesses pop up for as short as one month and others who have stayed for multiple years," says developer Jake Edwards, managing part- ner of the Dayton Group. Contact us to learn about customized HVAC-R service plans for your facility. Building efficiency. It's what we do. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E We work with big and small brands, startups to small businesses, all using the same pop- up model. It's a great equalizer. — Ben Davis OpBox P H O T O / R A E M C P H E R S O N C R E AT I V E F O C U S The C Street Pop-Ups at Iron Works was a pop-up retail and hospitality village in South Boston featuring modular units by OpBox.

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