Applications Now Being Accepted For Pop Up Shops!

Activated Spaces, an initiative to fill downtown storefronts, is accepting applications for short-term retail and service businesses to open downtown this spring as part of the twelfth phase of its Pop-Up Shop Project. The project matches business owners and entrepreneurs with downtown property owners who have first-floor storefront space available for occupancy.

Interested retailers should fill out an application, which can be filled out online at www.activatedspaces.org, or downloaded and emailed to Jen Cadieux at [email protected]. The application deadline is 5 pm Friday, February 17. Tenants will be notified the week of March 6, and retailers must be ready to open in May.

Lease lengths will range from three to six months. The spaces will have varying lease rates, but will be leased below market value. Activated Spaces volunteers will connect retailers with commercial property owners, help make the space move-in ready, and promote the business during such events as First Friday and Summer in the City. Selected businesses will negotiate leasing terms directly with the selected property owner, but flexibility for the tenant is a priority.

Activated Spaces volunteers are building on the success of the Pop-Up Project’s previous phases. Thirteen of the businesses that have opened as part of the Pop-Up Project are still including: Beaute Box, 116 W. Fifth St.; Peace on Fifth, 234 Dutoit St.; Vintage Barbershop, 110 W. Fifth St.; Spice Paradise, 16 Brown St.; Hicks’ Barber Shop, 16 Brown St.;  Twist Cupcakery, 25 S. St. Clair St.; Fronana, 27 W. 1st St; Mitosis Creative, 14 W. 1st St. Suite 302; Baker Salvage Co, 31 S. St. Clair St.; Starred by Tamika, 37 S. St. Clair St.; Buckeye Laptop, 133 N. Ludlow; and Soccer Shots, 39 S. St. Clair St.  Since the inception of the project in 2011, more than 21,000 square feet of previously vacant space has been occupied and 41 new jobs have been created.

Commercial property owners interested in offering space to Pop-Up owners should contact Jen Cadieux at 937-224-1518. Once a match is made, a small stipend is available to be distributed at the discretion of the Activated Spaces team to each of the businesses each month for the first three months to assist in off-setting startup costs.

The Pop-Up Project is driven by volunteers from the young professional organizations UpDayton and Generation Dayton with support from the Downtown Dayton Partnership, the City of Dayton, the City of Dayton Neighborhood Mini-Grant program, and community volunteers. Activated Spaces is part of the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, a strategic blueprint for the future of downtown.