The strength of a local economy is based first on its people if the city smooths the path to building their dreams. Topping the smooth-path list are ways of starting impossibly small, chiefly in incubator spaces & temporary pop-up shops. The patterns shown here can work well for the preservation of existing landmarks like the Tennessee Brewery mentioned later, but they're also highly effective in new places because they help them jump-start the vitality of the place that would otherwise only come later with large bricks-and-mortar investments. Much of the vitality comes from the people they attract to do business with them, but part of the vitality comes from the small scale of the physical establishments themselves that's best described in the Teddy Bear Principle. And because incubators and pop-up shops tend to be highly mobile, they can work their wonders in many spots as a new neighborhood grows over time.

shipping containers used as pop-up shops

Transportable structures like shipping containers make good pop-up shops that can be used by ventures in short windows of time to test the local waters for interest in the goods or services they're selling. And if they succeed they might stay indefinitely.

teardrop camper as mobile photo studio

The most ephemeral of pop-up shops are highly mobile, literally popping up in a place for a few hours and then moving on; food trucks are famous for this. This photographer is talking with the late great Memphis make-it-happen legend Tommy Pacello; every city needs a Tommy!

Time Out Market food hall on Lincoln Road in South Beach

Food halls can act as pop-ups, incubators & tasting outposts to larger restaurants all at once. A chef might test the waters when venturing out like a pop-up or incubate for a longer term. And because young talent is strong on food halls they watch how others get started.

blank storefronts along downtown sidewalk

Mixed-use buildings with the wrong sidewalk-level expectations may have a lot of blank storefront early (more on this soon). Because some activity is much better than no activity, those storefronts can be turned into both pop-up shops and incubator spaces. And some rent is better than no rent. Succeed with pop-up storefronts and larger stores will follow.

The Tennessee Brewery building in Memphis in the early stages of its transformation into a neighborhood center

The Tennessee Brewery in Memphis was close to demolition late in 2013; I posted here Ground Rules to Save a Building from Demolition (Part 1 of 2) and here Assembling a Cause to Save a Building from Demolition (Part 2 of 2) as a last-ditch hope for new thinking to help save it. Tommy Pacello said he and his young talent largely did what the posts said, and the first popups spurred what is now a neighborhood renaissance.

Tennessee Brewery interior business suite

If you have empty new space for incubators & popups that's great; if you have a building that's a local historic treasure, it has far more appeal built in. And you only need to activate the frontages to get activity started and begin the turnaround like at the Tennessee Brewery.

Downtown Top Ten Series Posts

Young Talent

#10 - Start a Yard

#9 - Bring the Carts & Sheds

#7 - Complete Street Tree Network

#6 - Recruit & Cultivate Local Businesses

#5 - Manage Mixed-Use Expectations