Pop-up stores can be very beneficial for small businesses. They can grow revenue, increase their reach and provide excellent market research on products and services that sell well.
But these short-term, temporary shops do not come without an administrative burden. First, the business owner has to find a location. Then, they have to deal with scheduling, make sure they have the right equipment and obtain the necessary licensing and permitting.
Jo Lee hopes to alleviate these headaches with her new company PopUp Rhody, an online marketplace for Rhode Island establishments to post available space for creative, culinary or crafts makers to set up pop-up stores.
“It’s just like Airbnb, but rather than renting a room, businesses rent space for a meeting or retail or an event,” Lee told Rhode Island Inno. “There’s a lot of vacant real estate out there, and there is a lot of excess room. It’s just not visible to people, so the goal for PopUp Rhody is to give it visibility.”
PopUp Rhody listings so far include a salon that wants to make one of its counters available for jewelry pop-up, a restaurant owner who wants to make space available for an event and a coworking space that wants to hold a company meeting.
Lee got the idea for PopUp Rhody from her many visits to Stock Culinary Goods, a market in Providence that frequently featured different pop-ups. Those pop-ups kept Lee coming back and ultimately buying products that she probably could have purchased cheaper online.
Lee had planned to launch in March, but the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold. She now has the site up in pilot mode, where businesses can list their properties for free. Lee said business can list available space for any duration of time, whether for one hour or three months. So far, she said, a lot of coworking spaces have gravitated toward the site.
Lee also plans to also use the site to coordinate around the Ocean State’s “Take It Outside” campaign, through which the state is issuing grants to businesses to move their operations outside as a coronavirus mitigation effort. The state grants will cover things like heat lamps, tables and chairs and outdoor Wi-Fi. Lee hopes PopUp Rhody can serve as a hub for resources, so businesses can list equipment they have to aid in the initiative.
Despite the pandemic’s harsh impact on commercial real estate and retail, Lee thinks PopUp Rhody can also tap into new trends brought on by the pandemic.
“It’s such a hard time right now,” said Lee. “People need to monetize whatever they can and share resources.”
In the near term, Lee said she plans to focus on building the site’s audience and assisting with the Take It Outside campaign.
Long-term, Lee envisions PopUp Rhody as a model for other cities with vibrant small business communities such as New Orleans or Baltimore.
“It’s going to be a slow comeback to brick-and-mortar post-Covid, so we’ll see more pop-ups, and this kind of site is a great way for people to discover where and how to do them,” she said. “This is about creating intra-commerce within the region.”
Bram Berkowitz is a contributing writer for Rhode Island Inno.
