Pop-Up Downtown 2023-24 Holiday Shops Announced During Global Entrepreneurship Week
TULSA, OKLA. (Nov. 16, 2023) — Six local businesses have been chosen for Pop-Up Downtown, a program of Downtown Tulsa Partnership (DTP) that will allow their owners to test the Downtown Tulsa market through affordable short-term leases in ground-floor retail spaces this holiday season.
The following pop-up shops will open no later than Dec. 1 and will operate through Jan. 19, 2024. Retailers will set their own hours of operation.
Black Pearl Diamonds Publishing, 411 S. Boulder Ave.
Music production services, apparel, artwork and literature
Da’ Shade Room, The Boxyard, 502 E. Third St., Unit #4
Stylish eyewear, including prescription and reader frames
LAMIK Beauty, The Boxyard, 502 E. Third St., Unit #11
Vegan beauty products, makeup services and education
Lotus Acupuncture, 624 S. Boston Ave., Suite 109
Unique gifts, including cupping sets, gua sha, herbs, eye pillows and supplements
Sourdough Tulsa, 11 E. Reconciliation Way
Sourdough breads
Splendid Treasures, 624 S. Boston Ave., Suite 108
Fine home goods and gifts for adults and children
The media is invited to meet the entrepreneurs behind these small businesses at a come-and-go open house from 4:30-6 PM on Thursday, November 16, at Archive Creative Space, 328 E. First St. Light refreshments will be served.
“It’s fitting that our Pop-Up Downtown participants are starting to move in to their very first brick-and-mortar spaces during Global Entrepreneurship Week, which celebrates and empowers entrepreneurs who face structural barriers,” says Emily Scott, Director of Planning & Vitality at Downtown Tulsa Partnership. “Pop-Up Downtown was designed to increase the amount of retail offerings Downtown for holiday shopping while amplifying the work of local minority small businesses and entrepreneurs.”
Thanks to the generous support of The Commemoration Fund, DTP is providing microgrants to all participants and has contracted with a project team led by local minority-owned firm Zakerion Strategies to provide expert guidance in the following categories:
- Business consultation to help participants refine their business operations and maximize their potential for success.
- Store staging consultation to assist participants in designing their store layouts and visual merchandising and creating an immersive shopping experience.
- Marketing consultation to help participants develop marketing strategies, including online and offline approaches, that will help participants reach a wider audience and drive sales.
DTP thanks Downtown property owners The Boxyard, Metroplex Group, PartnerTulsa and Sharp Development for making their properties available to 2023-24 Pop-Up Downtown participants. DTP paired the six participants with vacant ground-floor retail spaces, negotiated their short-term leases, and will remain a liaison between the property owners/managers and pop-up shop owners for the duration of the Pop-Up Downtown program.
Supporters of Pop-Up Downtown also include 36 Degrees North, PartnerTulsa and TEDC Creative Capital, whose representatives selected program participants from among 18 applications; and the following businesses, whose owners will serve as mentors to Pop-Up Downtown entrepreneurs: Elote Café & Catering, Foolish Things Coffee Co., Mi Tea Lounge, Rabbit Hole Bar, Bounceless and Bite Way.
“It has been wonderful to see the Tulsa business community embrace Pop-Up Downtown, and we look forward to seeing how participants will activate Downtown with increased foot traffic and diversity of shopping experiences,” says Brian Kurtz, President & CEO of Downtown Tulsa Partnership. “We congratulate our newest group of Pop-Up Downtown entrepreneurs and thank each of them for believing in our neighborhood.”
Pop-Up Downtown builds on the success of DTP’s award-winning 2022 holiday pop-up pilot, which connected 11 local entrepreneurs with 9 vacant Downtown storefronts, resulting in more than $27,000 in revenue for the participating small businesses. Pilot program participants continue to operate two brick-and-mortar stores in Downtown Tulsa at East Fifth Street and South Boston Avenue: Mi Tea Lounge and 5th & Fab Fashion Hub.
More details about Pop-Up Downtown can be found at DowntownTulsa.com/PopUpDowntown.
For more information about Downtown Tulsa Partnership, visit DowntownTulsa.com.