Shipping Container Shopping Mall Slated to Open in Taunton

The former Bacon Felt factory, owned by the City of Taunton, is being razed to make way for a new outdoor commercial plaza made of repurposed shipping containers.

The Taunton Daily Gazette reported that Joseph Holdiman, lead developer for RCSI Property, LLC, said the project's focus in on “energiz[ing] the neighborhood” with new commercial business and spurring economic growth in the city's Weir Village. Much of the plaza, consisting of close to 4 acres of real estate, will comprise “retail incubator space featuring burgeoning entrepreneurs” with startup businesses housed inside retrofitted shipping containers.

According to Holdiman, 20 repurposed, retrofitted shipping containers will support various retail businesses within the center of the plaza. Other features of the plaza will include:

Fifty parking spaces will be installed to support shoppers. 

Holdiman told the Taunton Daily Gazette he couldn't reveal the names of confirmed businesses or the brewery and distillery set to open on the former Bacon Felt property. Businesses on track to open include an ice cream shop, a coffee café, a jewelry store, a leather goods maker, an outdoor yoga space, and several men's and women's clothing outlets. 

Each shipping container, measuring about 200 square feet, is being obtained from ports in Boston and New York City. Each retail space will feature doors, windows, flooring, solar-powered electrical hook-ups, and ductless mini-splits for HVAC systems.

Only food service vendors will have water connections. Plumbing will only be in place in centralized restroom facilities within the shipping containers.

The site is expected to be remediated and demolition completed within a few months, by the end of August. The plaza at Bacon Felt is anticipated to be completed and ready for operation by spring 2026.