The Church-Wellesley Village BIA launches Church Street Pop-Up initiative
The Church Wellesley BIA is the first BIA to take on an initiative like this, and in doing so is creating an affordable, non-permanent opportunity for pop-ups in some empty spaces along Church St
Written by Stephanie McCracken, Executive Director of the Church-Wellesley Village BIA and Meg Marshall, Social Media Manager for the Church-Wellesley Village BIA.
Every street and community wants to see their storefronts busy and full of life. This adds vibrancy, excitement, a sense of community and provides increased economic development to a neighborhood.
When empty storefronts exist, they can bring graffiti or tagging, theft, arson, unsafe drug use and other activities. Currently, there are some vacancies along Church Street that everyone would like to see filled.
As the first BIA (Business Improvement Area) in the City of Toronto to take on such a unique initiative, The Church Wellesley Village is looking to fill some of the vacancies with affordable, non-permanent entrepreneurial or small business endeavours. A survey was conducted with the surrounding community with 93% of respondents taking pride in supporting local businesses, restaurants and services at least twice a week. Results from the survey also asked for ideas on what to fill the empty spaces with and some of the key findings were: bakeries, LGBTQ/women friendly spaces, clothing stores, independent retail and cafes/coffee shops.
Applications for the Church St Pop-Up Initiatives are being accepted until Friday June 1st, with the aim to see these spaces filled in the weeks to come.
Check it out on Retail Insider as well!
