Pink Pothos opens up first shipping container shop at Pittsburgh Yards - SaportaReport

Oct 31, 2024

The Container Yard at Pittsburgh Yards is officially open with its first retail business, the brightly-colored Pink Pothos houseplant shop. The shipping container store opened its glass doors officially on Oct. 26 and more businesses will soon follow suit.

Pittsburgh Yards is currently home to a number of businesses that operate out of the Nia Building, from tiny office spaces to create a “job hub.” But the businesses inside were only one part of the original plan for Pittsburgh Yard, which opened in 2020. The next piece was set for retail, according to Chantell Glenn, the senior associate responsible for the development and operations of Pittsburgh Yards.

“The container courtyard is really meant to support those types of businesses who need to have face time with customers in order to be able to sell their product,” Glenn said.

The courtyard spans the outside of the building with an astroturf field. Housing developer Fortas Homes already has a container business in the courtyard but nine businesses are planned for the area. Located only a few yards from the Beltline, the businesses would see foot and bicycle traffic from passersby.

“I think customer energy is happening on the Eastside and I think our neighborhood has been definitely waiting for some of that energy to come down this way,” Glenn said.

The containers are also more affordable than most brick-and-mortar businesses. That’s what drew in Lakeisha Jones, who started Pink Pothos in 2022 after a 13-year career in information technology.

Jones said she “always wanted to be an entrepreneur” and had a particular love for retail. When brainstorming what type of retail shop she could run, Jones realized that her love for plants could become a business.

“I started researching commercial real estate in Atlanta and oh my god, the sticker shock,” Jones said.

Pricey commercial rent pushed Jones to look elsewhere, but she didn’t know where to start – until she heard the Beltline Marketplace was looking for six Black-owned businesses to open up on the trail.

The application required a business that had been open for two years, but Jones applied anyway and got brought in for an interview. She explained her concept, and they ended up selecting Pink Pothos as a container business.

Atelier7, an architectural firm focused on sustainable design founded by Tony Pope designed the container for her Beltline plant shop. At the end of the Beltline lease, he told Jones about the upcoming Container Courtyard at Pittsburgh Yards.

“The caveat was, you’d have to buy your own container,” Jones said.

But ownership would give Jones full creative control over the shop and the opportunity to take the shipping container with her if he moved. So she decided to take the project on.

“It’s not for the faint of heart,” Glenn said about the model.

Shipping container businesses are still relatively new in Atlanta, and code restrictions made it hard to reuse old containers. Each building would have to be made new and shipped in.

Tony Pope was drawn to shipping containers years ago, when he had to build a low cost separating wall at a church in East Point. The architect was watching the cargo train go by when he noticed the large metal containers.

“What if I just stacked these metal boxes up?” Pope asked.

Pope quickly learned the containers would be a quick-to-assemble and low cost way to provide housing and storefronts. He learned how to stack the containers and “manipulate” the boxes to make wider and larger spaces.

To date, his company has designed over 100 projects made of shipping containers, and he ses the prefabricated builds as the future of affordable housing. When Jones needed a container for her business, Pope was the one with the experience and vision to do it.

“This is a golden opportunity to make a terrarium and make this thing transparent so that you bring the ort of indoor landscape to the outside,” Pope said.

He called Jones a rightfully “tough customer” with a clear vision for her storefront.

“I just knew that I wanted it to look like a little jungle,” Jones said. “I do plan on adding more plants; we’re just getting started, but vision-wise, I want you to feel like you’re walking through the forest of Costa Rica.”

She also needed heating and air. Pope got to work on constructing the container: he would purchase it about 60 percent prefabricated and finish the work locally. Shipping issues and costs delayed the container’s arrival by months, though. One of the glass doors blew off in transit, too.

It wasn’t an easy path, but Pink Pothos opened its doors for business on a sunny Saturday. She offers a small collection of plants and accessories alongside a host of services from repotting to pest management. She also does pet sitting, house calls and plant care for businesses.

“I’ve just really built my business on great customer service and just educating people on how to take care of their plants,” Jone said. “I want everyone to love plants as much as I do.”

Jones now urges other business owners to consider options outside of a “middle of Midtown” brick-and-mortar shop.

“I feel like we’re ahead of the curve,” Jones said. “It’s a little quiet over here, but that’s just for now, and it’s coming.”

Aztec Cycles will be the next business to open its doors in The Container Courtyard. The Black-owned bike retail, rental and repair shop has been owned and operated by Kris and Michelle Dunbar since 2010.

The pair have a physical shop in Stone Mountain, but the container business will be branded as Pittsburgh Bicycle Rentals to bring rentable wheels to the Southside Beltline trail.

“The first goal is for people on this side of town to have access to bicycles,” Michelle Dunbar said.

The avid cyclist filled out an application to join the container in 2019. She got the spot, but COVID-19 halted Dunbar’s plans, and she considered giving up.

“My husband told me: “If you don’t stick with this, as soon as you pull out of this program there’s going to be another bicycle container coming in,”” Dunbar said.

She kept up the work, and the container is in its finishing stages now. It will be primarily used to rent bikes through an online application, and customers will be able to choose from regular bicycles, electric bicycles and tricycles to ride along the Beltline and around town.

Dunbar said she had to “rise to each challenge” in the relatively new landscape of shipping containers, but she’s looking forward to getting bikes to people at Pittsburgh Yards.

Pittsburgh Bicycle Rentals will have a soft opening in mid-November and will fully open for business in 2025. Pink Pothos is now fully open for in-store shopping and consultations.

“These two are just the beginning as we are scheduled to have all nine businesses in place before the end of the year, including a Black-owned coffee house, skincare company and dining options,” Glenn said.