The Container Store thrives on the hopeful dream of many that with just the right storage cases and shelves, all our homes could be beautifully neat and organized.
Instead of random piles of domestic sediment, our clutter would vanish into tidy, color-coordinated bins, each one handily marked with labels like "Easter Decorations," "Winter socks" or "Dog Toys." Hence, they have hundreds of types of boxes and 45 different kinds of laundry hampers.
A Container Store is set to open in Tampa on March 16 at the corner of Westshore Boulevard and Boy Scout Boulevard. That's astride the main conduit between the enclave of South Tampa and the vast International Plaza mall.
Container Store officials like to say they are much more than a store. They're a solution and consulting center, staffed with employees who go through training in how to be especially friendly, helpful and skilled in designing the right storage unit for a customer.
Started in 1978 in a tiny store in Dallas, each new Container Store spans more than 25,000 square feet, and they're full of staffers/consultants in blue aprons to help customers organize their lives.
The physical embodiment of a Real Simple magazine cover, they have long aisles of color-coded letter boxes, 120 different food storage devices, 700 kinds of office products, 45 different kinds of laundry hampers, 350 travel products and 80 styles of hangers.
Robots have physical sensors and motors -- they can operate in the real world just as well as any software program operates on the Internet. They will be embedded in our physical spaces -- our sidewalks, bedrooms and parks--and they will have minds of their own thanks to artificial intelligence.
Yet robots also are fully connected to the digital world -- they are far better at navigating, sharing information and participating in the online world than humans ever can be. We have invented a new species, part material and part digital, that eventually will have superhuman qualities in both worlds at once.
The questions that remain are: How will we share our world with these new creatures, and how will this new ecology change who we are and how we act?
As a roboticist, I ponder these questions often. And as the pace of robotics development accelerates, I'm convinced these are questions that our entire society should collectively answer. So, two years ago, I began to apply my understanding of robotics technology to predict how we someday will experience robots in the wild, a writing exercise that yielded my new book, "Robot Futures."
The book doesn't dwell on technologies, but on the possible human side effects. Could the creation of "do-it-yourself" robots and the proliferation of cheap, but intelligent, toys result in a zoo of obnoxious, exotic new creatures? Will robots, with limitations that will be easy for humans to take advantage of, bring out the worst in people, resulting in bullying behaviors and other abuse?
By imagining these possible futures, I don't mean to diminish the promise of robotics or minimize the potential risks. My hope is that it will help us envision, discuss and prepare for change, so that we can influence how the robot future unfolds.
The 40-employee company has between 10 and 15 people who work out of the Flint Township facility, although that payroll is expected to grow as the company makes investments into new technology and brings in additional clients.
"From an overall company perspective, we grew by 40 percent last year on the revenue side and doubled the number of people working in the company and this year we expect to add another dozen people to the company and we are on track to grow another 38, 40 percent," Klein said.
The appeal of coming to Genesee County was because it is on a different power grid from Southeast Michigan and is easily accessible by highway, he said.
"We love the assets of what EDS and GM left behind," he said. "It was a big step for us in 2005 to take a pretty vacant data center and turn it into what is now one of the biggest data centers in the state of Michigan, and our anchor."
Bringing tech companies to the area to utilize the talent produced from Kettering University and University of Michigan-Flint is of interest to Jim Hamlin, owner of OBlendz restaurant in the UM-Flint Pavilion downtown.
Any additional business for the area is always welcome, but it could also be done with a nod to keeping young professionals here, he said.
"That's probably the direction they ought to move in," he said. "It would be nice to see some type of promotion to get some business in the city again. I'd love that."
The Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce played a part in bringing Online Tech to the area and promotes the opportunities available to prospective buyers, as well as holds quarterly meetings with a list of consultants to discuss those sites, said Janice Karcher, vice president of the economic development for the chamber.
There is an interest in large buildings and the chamber also works with site consultants and the state on behalf of companies to respond to site requests, she said.
The I-69 International Trade Corridor Next Michigan Development Corporation recently submitted a proposal to the state to have 1,600 acres in Genesee, Shiawasee, Lapeer and St. Clair counties considered for a 15-year tax abatement as renaissance zones.
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