Pop-up shops are nothing new. A retail space thats devoted to revolving pop-up shops, however, is novel. Add a contractor willing to help you build your temporary dream store at minimal cost, and youve got the Chinatown Experiment at 434 Columbia between Hastings and Pender.
The Chinatown Experiment is a facility for entrepreneurs to test run ideas before they commit capital, says founder Devon MacKenzie. Youre going to run through 100 bad ideas before you come up with a really good one. Its being able to do something about them thats important.
The 28-year-old came up with his idea on an excursion to Portland. Vancouverites lust after Portlands comparably laissez faire approach to liquor licences and food carts. For MacKenzie, Portlands appeal is low retail rental rates which foster a glut of small creative businesses.
Although his fellow travellers asserted that this level of creativity is impossible in Vancouver where rental rates downtown, in Gastown, and even on Main, are prohibitively high for young entrepreneurs, MacKenzie set his mind to making it happen.
He rented 750 sq. ft. of rundown space in Chinatown, the next place for all the young businesses. He had planned on using it as a showroom to display streamlined methods hed developed as the co-owner of Strathcona Construction, the company behind Gastowns HousexGuest. Instead, he launched The Chinatown Experiment.
Since October, its hosted several sell-out pop-ups, ranging from a Twin Peaks-inspired diner to designer collectives. Sugo Sauce-y Pop-Up by Maya Sciarretta, owner of start-up tomato sauce company, inhabits the Experiment Dec. 3 to 10.
I sell my product in six Vancouver stores and on the web. The Experiment gives me an opportunity to test having my own space and creating a combined retail and cafe experience, says Sciarretta, who grew up in Chinatown and launched her business in May 2012.
MacKenzie emphasizes that The Chinatown Experiment is itself an experiment. Given that its booked solid through January, the hypothesis is working. Never one to stop experimenting, MacKenzie is testing offering modular retail display units, walk-in traffic metrics and even marketing, in addition to low daily rental rates.
Anyone can get a space and rent it out. Im hands on, explains MacKenzie. I want to help people try their idea for the least amount of money, while getting maximum exposure and research.
