Even the most British of icons are evolving.

BMW redesigned the Mini Cooper; the classic double-decker bus fell out of favor, then came back into fashion; the black London taxi will soon go electric.

But with the mobile phone effectively wiping out everyday use of public telephone booths, what will become of the beloved scarlet-red booths that once dotted the nation?

Anything and everything, it seems, from an honor-based lending library to a lunch-salad stand. One is a first-aid stop replete with a defibrillator; another could be the world's smallest art gallery.

In perhaps the greatest irony, they seem just the right size to serve as mobile phone repair shops and charging stations.

Thousands of the dormant phone booths around the country have been “saved” — re-purposed, mostly as part of nonprofit work. But there's about to be a big expansion in their use as micro locations for businesses.

The push to open shops inside the booths, or boxes as they're called in Britain, was jump-started by Edward Ottewell and Steve Beeken, who opened the Red Kiosk Company and a related charity. They're refurbished, given a paint job, new electric wiring, specialty glass and locks.

The process takes three months, Ottewell said. “Everything's put back to its original state,” he said.

Tenants sign leases of three to 10 years that cost $4,720 a year. After a coffee and ice-cream shop opened two years ago in the coastal town of Brighton, a handful more followed suit around the country.

A third of Britain's 46,000 pay phones, including about 8,000 red phone booths, are used just once a month or not at all, according to British Telecom, which has operated nearly all pay phones in the U.K. since phone services were privatized in the 1980s.

Perhaps the most poignant use of the booths — as smartphone repair and charging stations, and mobile office spaces — has the most potential.

New York City-based Bar Works plans to open tiny offices inside the booths, starting with nine in September and expanding to 18 by the end of the year. For $26 a month, people will have access to a mini work station with Wi-Fi, power outlets, a printer and scanner, and other office utilities.

Lovefone, an electronics repair shop, plans to open seven smartphone-repair shops in phone boxes nationwide.

“I was amazed at how spacious it was and thought it perfect for fitting a single technician inside,” Lovefone CEO Rob Kerr said.

“We already send technicians across the city on bikes performing repairs at home and work with a briefcase of parts and tools, so you don't need a lot of space,” he said.