POP UP RETAIL (Part I) ; AN INTRODUCTION FOR SMALL DOWNTOWNS

“Pop up retail” is something that virtually everyone has experienced in one form or another.  Most familiar is the sale of Christmas trees in a business parking lot in December or the sale of Halloween items from a vacant storefront in October.    The basic premise is to rent out vacant store front space without committing to a long term lease and its related expenses.  

Downtown building owners should seriously consider the concept of “Pop Up” retail for their vacant store fronts.  It is an affordable option for an entrepreneur to test the viability of a business concept; and provide a landlord with some revenue for an otherwise vacant building.   Property owners having trouble selling or renting their site may be willing to settle for more short-term rental arrangements.  

A good source for prospects may be existing farmers markets or craft show events.  A vendor may be ready to take that next step.  The community (or community volunteers) could be a conduit to connect budding business operators with willing downtown store front owners.

There are tons of resources on the internet concerning this topic.  To get a better grasp of the concept; check out this site from a business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:  http://deca.to/pop-up/    The success of their program is impressive and certainly worth investigating.

Besides store fronts, there are many other facets to the topic of pop up retail which I’ll bring up in later posts.