Pop up shops are filling empty storefronts and providing opportunities to local businesses.

By Daryn Wright
Photos by Daryn Wright

Empty brick storefronts are often a burden to city centers; the cost is too high for business owners to commit to filling the space on a long-term basis. For Vancouver, an interesting solution may be the rise of the pop up shop.

The concept is simple: storefronts are filled temporarily by local businesses, designers, artists, or coffee roasters who have time-limited goods or who want to test out a possibly financially-liable concept. Vancouver has seen a wave of the pop-up shop move through the city in the past six months: the seasonal Gypsy Vintage Market has occasionally made its home at the Biltmore Cabaret or Fortune Sound Club, specializing in curated vintage clothing, shoes, and accessories; The Found and the Freed is a collective that arranges antiques, artifacts, and found objects in various locations around Vancouver on a quarterly basis. The Chinatown Experiment, started by Devon MacKenzie, has taken the concept of the pop up shop one step further.

“It’s a revolving door for pop ups, essentially; a place for entrepreneurs to try their ideas in a low-risk, low-cost environment,” says MacKenzie. The Experiment is an inconspicuous storefront located in the heart of Chinatown, acting as home to various locals and their ideas. So far, it has been hugely successful despite the fact that publicity has mostly been generated by word of mouth and Facebook.

“Vancouver has tons of creative people, but they stumble when taking their arts and products and making it into a sustainable business,” MacKenzie says of the concept.  “A lot of people have great ideas, but there’s a lot of risk involved in committing without knowing if anyone wants your idea.”

When he first got the space on Columbia Street (between Hastings and Pender), he was planning on using it to reinvent the construction industry, but then he realized that there was a need for local entrepreneurs to try out their ideas, and there wasn’t anything like this. After being contacted by several people interested in the project, he opened up shop in mid-September.

The Black Lodge Diner was the first pop up to make its home in the location, intending to add to the cultural diversity. The shop was inspired by the 90s show Twin Peaks, and organizers Ken Tsui and Genevieve Mateyko served up pie, ice cream, and “a damn fine cup of coffee” for all of two hours, when the supply ran out.

[pullquote]The duration of each shop varies from 1–14 days, as MacKenzie believes that the shorter you make it, the more creative people have to be.[/pullquote]

The duration of each shop varies from 1–14 days, as MacKenzie believes that the shorter you make it, the more creative people have to be. This also gives people more of an incentive to come in, as demonstrated by the two-hour pie sellout.

The shop currently filling the space is Mutts and Co., a collective of designers from Vancouver and Toronto. Paige Cowan of Toronto-based Muttonhead says that they found it hard to find any Canadian stores to pick up their line, which is part of the reason they turned to pop up stores.

[pullquote]Doing a pop up shop is a way to expose our brand, to educate our customers and to really connect with them and allow them to really know our story,” Cowan says. [/pullquote]

“We wanted to encourage people to support local business and local manufacturing. Doing a pop up shop is a way to expose our brand, to educate our customers and to really connect with them and allow them to really know our story,” Cowan says.

December, January, and February are already booked by people who hope to try out an idea, so the space will nary see vacancy.

The Chinatown Experiment is only in its beginning stages, but MacKenzie says he’d like to see it develop into something more.

“I want it to be a complete turn-key operation. Then, as soon as someone approaches me, they can walk in and set up and not have to worry about all the logistics. All they have to do is work on their idea,” says MacKenzie.

“Part of the reason I exist is because I want to take care of the red tape for people so they can take their businesses to the next level.”

The Chinatown Experiment is located at 434 Columbia St.