Fashion Trucks Coming To City Hall Plaza
BOSTON (CBS) - The city of Boston says it's trying to accommodate a new business model.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority confirms that the city will make space available for mobile retail clothing trucks on City Hall Plaza now through September 19th, and during Boston Fashion Week.
These trucks sell everything from fashion tees to caps and shoes.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Anthony Silva reports
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Lola's Urban Vintage truck owner Nicole Lyons tells me its been hard to find space. She says that she can't park her truck on the street, so she has to find festivals, events, or rent from private lots. Lyons says it's great of the city to be working with truck owners like this.
Nicole bought her truck after closing her clothing boutique in Allston. Among the advantages to running her business out of the truck: no rent, being able to go directly to her customers, and being able to work with the city and make her business more visible.
Emily Benson, owner of The Fashion Truck, says that she and other truck owners have been talking about to city about developing a program much like the food trucks have, allowing the retail trucks to park on the street. Benson tells me she's heard that there are some legal issues that need to be worked out. She says having the trucks on City Hall Plaza is a compromise, in the meantime.
Benson says mobile boutiques can help in areas of the city that don't otherwise have retail opportunities. She says that she wants to go places where she can add something, places like Fort Point Channel or the Seaport District. Benson calls the City Hall Plaza opportunity an "ideal situation."
The city is writing new regulations for fashion truck operators. Current law only covers food trucks and sidewalk peddlers.
