The space has been secured, the retailers selected and the marketing is in place. Now it’s up to Chattanoogans to make or break the five retailers selected to participate in Project PopUp.
A program sponsored by the River City Company, Project PopUp will give five independent local retailers the opportunity to operate their small business downtown rent-free for six months. Each of the retailers will operate out of contiguous retail space located at the 800 block of Chestnut Street, also known as Citipark. It is currently owned by local realty and asset company Berry & Hunt.
“We noticed places like the Small Business Incubator that help office-based business and the Co.Lab that is for technology companies, but we realized that there was no one focusing solely on retail,” said River City Company program manager Tiffanie Robinson. “During the six months we will be doing as much as we can to help support them grow and expand through business development seminars, marketing and creating animation on the street.”
After reviewing approximately 25 applications and conducting several rounds of interviews and discussions, Iron Labs, Go Bagel, Sewn to the Sky, O.C. Buckels & Co. and Tasty Daylight Donuts have been selected to fill the retail spaces. Robinson said all of the Project PopUp businesses will open at the same time with a special event. That timeline has not yet been set, but she said she hopes to see them open by the end of August.
With the five retailers ranging from lunch and breakfast providers to an interactive gaming lab and handcrafted goods providers, the participants were selected with a purpose in mind.