A local property owner hopes to keep South Oak Street busy by letting small businesses set up shop for a week in a vacant storefront -- for free.
Dan Couch, owner of several properties on South Oak Street, said he's experimenting with the "Pop-Up Shops" idea after a business in one of his units, Winding Road Gifts and Interiors, closed and another is moving to a larger unit. Instead of leaving the smaller storefront at 320 S. Oak St., the current home of Little Walker's Boutique, dark and vacant, he decided to open it up for businesses to showcase their products. He said he hopes the first shop can open in the second week of February.
"I would like to offer the space FREE of charge to businesses that would like to use the space for a one week showcase," he wrote in a Facebook post.
Couch said most of the interest so far has been from online business owners who don't have a brick-and-mortar location.
"This gives them an opportunity to kind of see if what they're doing online will translate into a brick-and-mortar location," he said.
Couch reserved June for young entrepreneurs, allowing those 18 and younger to showcase their businesses or ideas downtown.
"I wanted to make sure people realize that these are young people that are either just getting into (starting a business) or working on it," he said. "That also gives some of the other business owners on the block an opportunity to kind of help...them and maybe give some ideas to these young entrepreneurs... ."
Couch said interested business owners can contact him on Facebook or call 573-338-1203 to learn more.