IDEA > Re/Vacant Commercial-RetailStorefronts in Downtown Mesa > Do Pop Ups!

Apologies to Roy Lichtenstein

A pop up store or pop up shop is a store that appears in a location for a set amount of time in order to promote or sell something specifically.
And by something that means anything - pop up stores are there to bring attention to a business or an event like the August 22, 2015 opening of light rail transit in downtown Mesa, or the 10th Anniversary of the Mesa Arts Center.

Everyone agrees that it would benefit everyone if the long-empty storefronts On/Off Main Street would once again be the attractions for shoppers they used to be way-back-when when retail evolved to shopping malls and left downtown.

POP-UP is one tool in the evolution of retail now and a powerful trend, started in about 2000 and taking place all over the world,  that might be a welcome addition to the usual strategies in the Urban Development Tool Kit to incubate new business without the financial risks of signing long-term leases on brick-and-mortar real estate - it allows business owners to test the market before they take the risk.

POP-UP events can attract people and visitors to downtown [for example First Friday Nights Out, street fairs like MacFest]. Once events prove they deliver desired results they become part of "downtown life".
POP-UP business is a new paradigm to promote the growth of retail and a potential boon for real estate interests if those businesses find their market here in downtown Mesa.
Oftentimes, online marketing works hand-in-hand with start-up or established businesses. Case in point: Smitholator Cookies operated online for two years before selecting a Main Street location.
Pop-Ups are a quicker way to find your market.

As usual with all good ideas, they need to fit in with established practices or those practices can get streamlined to facilitate the process.
While pop-ups are temporary, they may face a regulatory maze.  Pop-ups are usually subject to the same land use laws, regulations, and licensing requirements as traditional retailers, and, in some cases, they may be subject to additional or different regulations.
Information included below is taken from an article published on March 11. 2015 from The Pop-Up Regulatory Maze on Law on RetailLawAdvisor.com


The Pop-Up Regulatory Maze 
By Cary R. Kadlecek and Timothy H. Watkins on March 11th, 2015  
Posted in Licensing, Permitting, Pop-up Retail, Regulatory, Retail, Retail Sales, Zoning

Pop-ups are usually subject to the same land use laws, regulations, and licensing requirements as traditional retailers, and, in some cases, they may be subject to additional or different regulations.
In most local jurisdictions, the zoning and land use regulations do not distinguish between temporary and more permanent uses. For a pop-up to be permitted in a particular building, the pop-up use typically must be allowed in the zone where the building is located. That does not necessarily mean that a new use permit or certificate of occupancy will be required for the pop-up because it may depend on how general the permitted use is and how closely the pop-up aligns with an existing permit. However, obtaining a certificate of occupancy or use permit can often be a long and onerous process, so pop-ups may be deterred from locating in certain available spaces because of the time investment required to obtain a permit. 
However, some local jurisdictions have recognized the unique advantages of pop-ups - they have revised their zoning and permitting laws accordingly so that pop-ups do not have to go through the usual entitlement process

Anyone planning on operating a pop-up should begin by determining how their jurisdiction treats pop-ups, then proceed from there.
There are considerations for both landlords and tenants with respect to Pop-Ups. 
A previous article on the same site can be seen here in this link > 
http://www.retaillawadvisor.com/2014/03/05/pop-up-retail/ 

By Erin M. Vanden Borre and Nancy M. Davids on March 5th, 2014

 

Here's a YouTube video by Melissa Gonzalez that starts off a series of lessons about Pop-Up

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