Retail Pop-Up Effort to Enter Second Year
The Shop Indy will be one of the retail pop-ups this year. (photo courtesy The Shop in Indianapolis)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA program designed to activate vacant and underutilized commercial space in downtown Indianapolis will soon enter its second season. St’ArtUp 317, established last year by Develop Indy and fashion arts nonprofit PATTERN, has unveiled the artists and businesses that will open pop-up displays during the month of May.
This year’s program will feature 30 pop-ups by businesses and artists at 10 locations in or near downtown Indy. Catherine Esselman, senior project manager at the Indy Chamber, says there was plenty of demand for pop-ups in Indianapolis when the program was piloted last year.
"We got great support from the community from artists to small businesses to our corporate partners and corporate headquarters that are in downtown," said Esselman. "We also had some people convert to leases and find locations in downtown Indianapolis, which is really the goal of the program so lots of good relationships were made and continue to be cultivated through this program."
Esselman says this year, organizers looked to increase the amount of retailers taking part in the program, in addition to the artists. She says that starts with cultivating relationships with landlords and developers in downtown Indy.
"It’s the best of both worlds," said Esselman. "We can commit the space to this program for the month of May and then ideally, they can work an opportunity to get a new tenant, a long-term tenant in that space. The thing with this program is it’s really real estate based, so we have to work with what’s on the market and what’s not on the market and we have a great landlord and developer community that, because of the successful program, were comfortable with the idea of participating this year."
All pop-up shops and window displays will be open from May 1 to May 31. This year’s featured locations include:
- *Circle Center Mall (both windows and 2nd floor retail) – 49 W. Maryland St.
- *Circle City Industrial Complex – 1125 E. Brookside Ave.
- *602 N. Park Ave.
- *10 E. Washington St.
- Piccadilly Building – 111 E 16th St.
- CityWay – 320 S. Alabama St.
- 130 E. Washington St.
- Stenz – 985 Dorman St
- Milhaus HQ – 460 Virginia Ave.
- 220 N. Meridian St.
(*Denotes retail pop-up location)
The artists and businesses included in this year’s program include:
- Komafi
- Florals by Emma and Brittany
- The Paper Peony
- Amy Ward
- Project One Studio
- Wishful Thinkin Clothing
- Paper Acorn
- The Shop Indy
- Comfort Option
- Eat, Drink, Paint
- Here Meditation
- Indiana Fashion Foundation
- Blacksheep Collective
- The Model Brand
- 2eze
- ReStyled By
- Classa Boutique Inc.
- Luxury Affordable Boutique
- Howl + Hide
- Witty by Codi
- Jake with a Shot
- Lari Pati
- ATTEND
- Stuart Troxel
- Steiner Studios
- Greenscape Geeks
- Hey Day
- Joy Hernandez
- Denis Kelly
Devlop Indy says St’ArtUp 317 is part of its economic development efforts, as well as its new campaign, BuyIN, which is aimed at advancing the city’s retail strategy. The BuyIN campaign officially launches May 15, at which time Develop Indy will release a new report on the retail buying power of downtown Indy.
You can learn more about St’ArtUp 317 by clicking here.
Esselman says they say plenty of demand for pop-ups in Indianapolis when the program was piloted last year.