CINCY POP SHOP SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT CINCY POP SHOP

Following the release of the Downtown Retail Action Plan in June 2016, DCED led the charge to bring Cincy Pop Shop, a pop-up retail program, to Cincinnati’s urban core. Cincy Pop Shop addressed a goal of the Action Plan, which is “to catalyze retail offerings that appeal to the diversity of the Cincinnati market by providing small and unique business opportunities.”

The program was created in partnership with Downtown Cincinnati Inc. as a lowrisk opportunity for future Cincinnati business owners to explore the potential of a brick-and-mortar retail location.

After searching available spaces in the Central Business District, the team identified Cincinnati’s iconic Carew Tower as the site for the inaugural Cincy Pop Shop program. Partnering with the Carew Tower team and building management company Belvedere Corp., three previously vacant spaces in the building were activated for the 2016 holiday shopping season.

Through strategic use of Community Development Block Grant funds, the Winter 2016 Cincy Pop Shop offered selected vendors $1,000 in support for eligible merchandising materials, in addition to a rent-free retail space during November and December.

The program received 16 applications from aspiring vendors, as diverse as they were eager. A selection committee made up of five members, including City staff, the property manager for the Carew Tower, a small business lender, and a small business owner came together to create a process that was inclusive, collaborative, and fair. Each committee member had the opportunity to first complete an evaluation survey based solely on the vendor’s application. The applicants were then asked to come in and pitch their business to the committee. Applicants were then scored on predetermined criteria based on the retail goals from the Downtown Retail Action Plan. The scores from the pitch day were added to the score taken from the individual surveys, and eight diverse vendors were chosen: • Barcode Glam • Chapeau Couture Hats • Davis Cookie Collection LLC • Flying Pig Marathon • Green Box Gift Wrapping • Jenco Brothers’ Candy • Sarah Center • Tronk Design

CINCY POP SHOP

Although diversity was a goal from the start of the program, the final number surpassed expectations, with six of the eight selected vendors being womanowned businesses, and seven of the eight being minority-owned businesses.

We sat down with two of the vendors to talk about their experience.

Fernanda Vergara, co-founder of local furniture manufacturer Tronk Design, rarely does business in Cincinnati and had a lot to say about how the program helped her business. “It was a no-brainer for us,” relates Fernanda. “We had never ventured into retail [space] before, and this was a great learning experience.” Tronk designs and builds contemporary furniture, but mostly online and mostly to customers outside of Cincinnati – that is, until Cincy Pop Shop.

“The Pop Shop program enabled us to bring our local story to Cincinnati. Our goal is to market to Cincinnati and tell our local story, and open retail spaces. After this experience, we feel more confident about what we need to do before we do that.”

“We learned so much about how to merchandise and sell our product to the end user, not the internet,” reflects Fernanda. “We had never ventured into retail; it was a learning experience.”

For Davis Cookie Collection, it felt good to be able to answer the question, “Where are you located?”

Christina and Miles Davis quickly realized in 2014 that Christina had a tasty talent for baking, although at the time she was using it to relax during graduate school. When coworkers began paying her to make boxes of a dozen cookies, the couple capitalized on the opportunity.

Fast forward to 2016. Davis Cookie Collection participated in the 12-week entrepreneurship program at MORTAR, learning the ins and outs of starting a business and connecting with valuable resources, such as University of Cincinnati law students who helped them with legal aspects of running a business. The Cincy Pop Shop program gave them the added perspective of having a store and allowed them to get an idea of how to stock a brick-and-mortar retail location.

“We had never ventured into retail [space] before, and this was a great learning experience.”

-Fernanda Vergara, co-founder of Tronk Design

“And it’s a family business,” Miles muses, “We’re both doing it. It really promotes family. We’re creating something for our family to be able to call our own.” The Davises’ goal is to pass the business down to their children and to become a Cincinnati staple, along with the likes of Graeter’s or Montgomery Inn.

What advice would the Davises give the next round of Cincy Pop Shop applicants? “Be ready for that pitch and come with your best. It can really be a game changer for your business.”