6 Milwaukee businesses open pop-up shops
Each of 18 businesses to participate for month
Six local businesses recently opened temporary stores along three commercial corridors near downtown Milwaukee as a part of the Pop-Up MKE program.
The three shops are located in the Cesar Chavez, North King Drive and Marketplace Business Improvement Districts. Two businesses occupy each store.
The first six companies will be in those stores until the beginning of July, when the next round of businesses will set up shop. In total, 18 businesses will occupy one of the three pop-up stores for about a month each.
The majority of the businesses sell clothing, accessories and beauty products. Others sell handmade soaps, essential oil blends or painting lessons.
The program, coordinated by the Local Initiatives Support Corp., hopes to foster economic development in the neighborhoods while helping local entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
“These neighborhoods are growing because downtown is growing,” said Beth Haskovec, commercial revitalization officer for LISC. “We want to make sure folks, business owners, residents are growing with the neighborhood and not being displaced from the neighborhood.”
Officials from the city and the North King Drive BID said they hoped increasing commercial activity in the neighborhoods would encourage more people to spend their money locally.
“The more we spend our money in our neighborhoods, the stronger our neighborhoods become,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said at the ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday.
For the business owners, the program provides training, mentorship and promotion, in addition to a temporary store. They also receive mini grants up to $2,500 to cover start-up expenses. The hope is that the training and stores will help the businesses grow and eventually have the opportunity to open their own brick and mortar locations.
“Being a part of the Pop-Up MKE has really given me a platform to share my products with people that look like me,” said Trenise Watson, founder of Asili Naturals. “I hope that one day this will turn into a brick and mortar store where I can share my products with the community.”
Asili Naturals sells all-natural, cruelty-free skin and body care products. It is one of the first six businesses to be featured in the pop-up shops.
Haskovec said the pop-up shop has already brought more people and excitement to the North King Drive area.
“Within the corridors this has already had an impact,” Haskovec said. “This space has been vacant for over a year. Friday night there were hundreds of people here. People were walking by and excited something was happening here.”
The pop-up shops will be occupying the three locations through September. LISC hopes to continue the program past September in the same spaces or by finding other locations.