MADISON, Wis. — The City of Madison is moving forward with plans to bring more businesses owned by people of color to downtown Madison via the Pop-Up Shop initiative.
The program will allow participants from the BlPOC community to move into one of two vacant storefronts on the 400 block of State Street for a few months.
President of Downtown Madison Inc. Jason Ilstrup said this gives businesses a chance to test the waters and see if a brick and mortar location is best for them.
“To do that with a much stronger safety net is really an important thing to do because being an owner of a business one the biggest cost you have is rent,” he said.
Prospective businesses can connect with Pop-Up Shop partners in the area’s Hmong, Latino, and Black Chambers to apply.
Ocean’s Laugh owner Sarah Peeler is hoping to secure one of those spots.
“I dream of just growing my business,” she said. “This opportunity is really huge.”
Peeler is currently running most of her sales online and though she hopes to be chosen for the program herself she said it’s about more than just growing her business.
“The biggest thing it’s going to do is just add more diversity to State Street,” Peeler said. “I mean I don’t know where it’s really at down there.”
Ilstrup said the hope is for the two storefronts to serve as a pilot for the initiative with room for expansion even outside of State Street.
“I think we heard loud and clear for years but particularly in 2020 that we needed to do everything we can to be intentional with how downtown Madison comes back from covid,” Ilstrup said.
Applications for the program will remain open until the end of the month with the first round of participants scheduled to begin their Pop-Up Shop experience early this fall.
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