Retail that opens where the customers already are
A market tent blows over. A food truck needs an engine, insurance and a mechanic. A shipping container needs a flat spot and a tilt-deck truck, and then it is a lockable, weatherproof shop with a serving window facing the crowd. Close the hatch at night and your stock, till and espresso machine stay inside a steel box.
We start from a new one-trip 20' container — clean walls that take paint well — and cut the openings where your counter and window need to be. Framing, insulation, lighting and outlets go in at the yard. Your logo goes on last. What rolls off the truck is a finished storefront, not a project.
The same box works a farmers' market in a Kamloops July, a Christmas market in November and a ski-hill base in February. When the lease on the lot ends, the shop leaves with you.
- Fold-down serving windows and counters, cut where you need them
- Finished, insulated interior with lighting and outlets
- Custom RAL paint, logo decals and full-side graphics
- Lockable steel shell — stock stays inside overnight
Built for serving, selling and locking up
Every item is a line on your quote, priced from the same menu the yard builds from.
Serving windows & counters
Fold-down or slide-up serving hatches with a counter at the right height for coffee, tap handles or a till. Quoted per design: one window on the long side, two, or a full side-opening wall.
Awnings & shade
A fixed or fold-out awning over the window keeps rain off the lineup and sun off the display. Sized to the opening and quoted with the build.
Finished interior
Steel stud framing with rigid foam insulation behind finished walls, and a floor that takes spills and a mop. Rock wool is the swap for a bar that needs to keep the noise inside.
Power for the equipment
The basic electrical package — 100A panel, LED lights, four 15A receptacles and an exterior weatherproof outlet — roughed in for your electrician's final hookup. Add dedicated circuits for espresso machines, fridges and draft coolers.
Doors & windows
A 36" steel personnel door for staff and stock, and sliding windows with screens and security bars for light and airflow. Full side-opening doors if you want the whole wall to be the storefront.
Paint & branding
The container arrives in your RAL colour with cut-vinyl logos, menu boards and full-side graphics applied at the yard — a shop front and a billboard in one.
Popular builds & starting prices
Real starting totals: an inspected container plus the modifications listed. Add or remove anything.
20' Pop-Up Shop / Vendor Bar
from $13,550 CAD
+ tax & delivery
A finished, wired retail box with your branding — sets up in a morning.
- New one-trip 20' container in your RAL colour
- 36" steel personnel door
- 2× sliding windows
- Steel stud framing + rigid foam insulation
- 100A panel, LED lights, 4 outlets, exterior outlet
Quoted per design: Fold-down serving window & counter · Awning · Logo decals & full-side graphics
Prices in CAD, plus tax and delivery. Every build is quoted line by line before any steel gets cut.
Serving windows, counters, awnings, plumbing rough-in and branding are quoted per design on top of the package — send a sketch of the window side and we will price the whole storefront.
Add or swap any modification
The same menu the yard quotes from — build up from the package above or start from a bare container.
Doors & windows
- Steel personnel door (36")
- $950each
- Sliding window
- $650each
Framing
- Steel stud framingOur standard
- $2,200per container
- Wood framing
- $1,800per container
Insulation
- Rigid foam boardOur standard
- $1,400per container
- Closed-cell spray foam
- $4,800per container
- Rock wool (mineral wool)
- $1,600per container
- Fiberglass battsOn request
- $900per container
- Undercarriage insulation
- $1,100per container
Electrical & HVAC
- Basic electrical package
- $4,000per container
- HVAC pre-wire
- $450each
Prices in CAD, plus tax and delivery. Every build is quoted line by line before any steel gets cut. Prices reviewed 2026-08-30. Full menu with details
Who runs a business out of a container
Seasonal and event operators who need a real storefront that isn't tied to one address.
Farmers' market & festival vendors
A vendor bar with a serving window and a lockable interior — set at the market for the season, loaded once, not every Saturday morning.
Coffee kiosks & seasonal cafés
A drive-up or walk-up coffee window at a trailhead, a beach or a lot beside the highway, with the espresso machine and fridge wired and ready for hookup.
Ski-hill & lakeside concessions
Spray-foamed and heated for a February at Sun Peaks, then hauled to a Shuswap or Okanagan beach for the summer — the same box, two seasons.
Tasting bars, ticket booths & boutiques
Brewery and winery tasting bars, event bars, ticket and guest-services booths, or a mobile boutique with display shelving and a fitting corner.
Food, drink and temporary commercial use: check before you order
A pop-up container is a commercial building the moment a customer is served from it, and the rules follow the use, not the box. Zoning, a temporary use permit or business licence, and whether a building permit applies to the placement are decided by your municipality or regional district — and the answer differs between a downtown Kelowna lot, a Sun Peaks base area and a rural fairground.
Anything serving food or drink also needs approval from the regional health authority — Interior Health across most of our home territory, Northern Health up north. They will ask about handwash and dish sinks, hot water, surfaces and refrigeration, and it is far cheaper to rough in the plumbing at our yard than to cut it in later. Pouring alcohol adds a liquor licence or special event permit on top.
Tell us where the container will sit and what you will serve from it, and we build to support those approvals — openings, sinks and electrical placed where the inspector expects them. Confirm the requirements with the municipality and health authority before the quote is signed so nothing has to be redone.
General guidance, not legal advice — rules differ by municipality and regional district. Read our BC container permit guide.
Pop-Up Retail: common questions
How much does a pop-up retail container cost?
The 20' Pop-Up Shop / Vendor Bar package above starts from a new one-trip container with the door, windows, insulation and electrical listed. Serving windows, counters, awnings, plumbing rough-in and graphics are added per design, so a one-window coffee kiosk lands well below a full-side tasting bar with a draft system. You get one itemized quote — container, every modification and delivery — and lease-to-own is available if you would rather spread the cost across the season.
How long does it take to build a container bar or kiosk?
Cutting a window and hanging a door takes days; a finished, wired and branded storefront takes longer and depends on the spec and our current build queue. Your quote includes a committed completion date, which matters when you are opening for a market or ski season. Tell us the date you need to be open and we will tell you honestly whether it is realistic.
Do I need a permit to run a bar or café out of a shipping container in BC?
Usually, yes — and it is two approvals, not one. The municipality or regional district handles zoning, temporary commercial use and business licensing; the regional health authority approves the food premises. Serving alcohol adds a liquor licence or special event permit. Rules differ by municipality and by event, so confirm before you order and we build to match what the inspectors ask for.
Will a container concession work in winter at a ski hill?
Yes, with the right insulation and heat. For a February at Sun Peaks or Big White we swap rigid foam for closed-cell spray foam, add closed-cell foam under the floor against frost, and include the HVAC pre-wire so your electrician can hang a mini-split or heater on a dedicated circuit. Staff stay warm and the lines don't freeze.
What power does a pop-up container need at a market or event?
The basic electrical package gives you a 100A panel, LED lighting, four 15A receptacles and an exterior weatherproof outlet, roughed in for your electrician's final connection. An espresso machine, a commercial fridge or a draft cooler each want their own circuit, so list the equipment when you order. On a lot with no service, your electrician can feed the panel from a pedestal or a generator inlet.
Can I move a pop-up container between seasons, and can I sell it later?
Both. A 20' container moves on a tilt-deck truck, so a summer market shop can be a Christmas-market bar in December and a ski-hill kiosk in February, with delivery quoted by distance and site access each time. Because the base is a new one-trip container in a standard footprint, a finished unit is straightforward to resell to the next operator — unlike a food truck with mileage.
More questions? See the full FAQ or call (778) 694-4050.
Pop-up retail and vendor bar containers across British Columbia
Valleyview Containers builds pop-up retail containers, vendor bars, coffee kiosks and concession units at our yard in Kamloops and delivers them anywhere in BC. Farmers' market vendors in the Thompson-Nicola, seasonal cafés on Okanagan and Shuswap beaches, ski-hill concessions at Sun Peaks and craft breweries in the Kootenays all start from the same new one-trip 20' container: a serving window and counter cut where the customer stands, a 36" personnel door for staff, insulation and electrical behind finished walls, and custom RAL paint with your logo. Family-owned in Kamloops, we quote the whole storefront as one itemized price.
A container storefront sits between a market tent and a leased building. It locks, it needs no engine or commercial driver, and it moves when the lease, the season or the event does. That makes it a fit for event bars that travel a festival circuit, ticket booths at fairgrounds and resorts, mobile boutiques that follow the summer crowd from Kelowna to Salmon Arm, and First Nations and rural community businesses that want a shop without committing to a permanent building. Pair it with a refrigerated container for cold storage behind the bar, or add a branded storage unit to keep stock on site.
Delivery runs from our Kamloops yard by tilt-deck truck to Interior and Northern BC, the Kootenays, the Okanagan, the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, quoted by distance and site access. A gravel market lot, a plowed resort base area or a lakeside parking lot are all normal drops. Finance the build through lease-to-own, order matching units for a multi-site rollout through fleet pricing, and finish it with container branding so the shop front reads from across the parking lot. See our container offices and container workshops for the back-of-house side of the same operation.
See all custom container solutions, the full modification price list, our project gallery, or browse containers for sale.
More custom solutions
Container Offices
Insulated, wired 20' offices that replace the rented trailer — and move to the next project with you.
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Cold Storage Containers
Plug-and-run reefers or insulated conversions — walk-in cooler and freezer space, delivered.
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Container Workshops & Tool Cribs
Insulated, lit and powered — a steel shop with benches, 240V and a roll-up door if you want one.
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