Sustainability and diversity are primary priorities as artists, independent merchants, local producers, community action organizations, and sustainability campaigners take over shuttered retail premises as the well-known high street names pull down their shutters. In the last year, there has been an 18% growth in pop-ups; yet, some of them are large brand representations.
Artist Daniel Thompson told the Observer, “I think a belief that the town center is not dying is at the core of it.” Thompson established the Empty Shops Network, which has assisted artists in occupying vacant spaces for exhibitions and other artistic endeavors for almost 20 years. According to Thompson, opening up art to a wider range of viewers was one of the goals.
People who would never walk inside a gallery are drawn to contemporary art displayed in vacant stores, according to Thompson. However, when they happen to stumble into the former greengrocer, they are experiencing something in addition to gazing at and thinking about art. To see that is such a delight.
We have spent thirty years trying to develop town centers using this paradigm, and it has failed,” he continued. We’ve allowed monoculture to take over by relying on the major high street anchors, like Woolworths and Wilko. Town centers are starting to create a proper ecology, complete with a mix of residential, retail, social, and civic uses as well as places to go in the evenings.
The goal of Plymouth’s Nudge Community Builders, which has opened 25% of the abandoned buildings along the city’s dilapidated Union Street in the last five years, is to turn a marginalized area into a vibrant and accessible one. Once known for unruly behavior, the street is today the site of street parties, community groups, local artist studios, civic discussions, and company startups—all for the benefit of the local population and frequently run by marginalized groups.
Nudge allows residents to become shareholders so they can buy and reuse abandoned structures, giving them a say in how the street develops. The company operates under the tenet that “empty buildings are not OK.”
“We’re really passionate about hosting spaces that are really inclusive as local residents,” co-director of Nudge Community Builders Hannah Sloggett said. “Collective ownership of land and buildings, as well as their creative and entertaining repurposing with long-term local benefits,” is what interests us.
Jabulani, a caterer that specializes in teaching indigenous women to launch their own food businesses and promote their culture, is one such small company. Sloggett claimed that it “helps black and Asian women on their food journey.” “They are helping women who may be marginalized in some way to overcome barriers, from navigating environmental health to the logistics of setting up a business.”
To ensure that its development benefits Plymouth’s economy, Nudge works with local vendors, spending 95% of its money in the city and 53% within a mile of the street.
The businesses in Sparks, Bristol, where Sam McKay’s Ethical Gift Shop is bustling with customers purchasing locally sourced goods that make ideal birthday and stocking stuffers, adopt a similar strategy. McKay said, “My shop stocks 92 local suppliers.” “I want it to be 100 by Christmas.”
The Pop-Up Club’s creator, Tillie Peel, stated that “the proportion of money that goes back into the local economy from our pop-ups is far greater than from the big shops.” The Pop-Up Club has assisted regional manufacturers and small retailers in repurposing vacant storefronts throughout England.
People enjoy visiting the stores and learning new things,” she continues. “Our kids are becoming more enthusiastic about being artistic. We have areas that are “bougie and weird, like me!” according to a teenage girl who told me she adored them.
Peel, who has experience in vintage fashion, is enthusiastic about sustainability and believes that the pop-up concept is promoting a reuse culture. Sparks also holds this opinion. In addition to its retail offerings, Sparks hosts friendly areas where people may converse about the climate situation and links guests with advisors regarding energy use.
Project manager Jenny said, “The goal of Sparks was to provide simple and affordable ways for people to be able to play their part when it comes to achieving the sustainable development goals.”
In reference to the expansion of the empty shop movement, Thompson states, “It’s an approach that helps people see the place they live differently.” It makes one feel proud. The ability to envision a better world is a prerequisite for any attempt to alter the current state of affairs. And we allow that imagination to occur.