http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Betsy/Where%20We%20Live%2007-17-2012.mp3
Popup storefronts are popping up all over. Maybe even in your town.
Here’s the idea: You take one empty retail space and offer it up for free. A new business comes in for a day, a week, a month, or who knows?
The hope? It can re-energize a commercial strip and fill in a sad, vacant storefront while giving entrepreneurs a chance to test out new ideas and hopefully turn it into a sustainable business.
Its been working in California, and the UK. Small stores, art galleries, even restaurants and coffee shops are “popping” up in cities like New Haven. Sometimes they stay for a few days or weeks...sometimes they find a home and stay for the long haul.
The phenomenon of “popup” stores is changing that model into something that’s actually helping towns and cities reinvent and reenergize their shopping areas.
Today, where we live, the economics of pop-up culture - and how it might be a key to saving main street.