Linden to hold ‘pop-up retail week’ next month

Linden Main Street is calling potential business owners to test their ideas during the week of Dec. 1 to 8.

The week will be “pop-up retail week around the historic courthouse square.”

Businesses will pop-up 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each evening as participants set up temporary storefronts in vacant buildings around the square. The experience will be a learning lab for local entrepreneurs.

“We design the layout so that shops are paired up with compatible businesses in each building,” Linden Main Street Manager Allie Anderson said. “This ensures that shoppers are drawn into each space by a good mix of products and shop owners have a valuable opportunity to meet others who understand the challenges of starting a small business.

“We discovered during pop-up week last year that this actually ended up being the most important component of the event–the network-building that occurred between shops,” Anderson said.

Pop-up is a way to test one’s products and ideas on the local market with no cost to participate. A competitive application process decides which applicants will be included. Applications are due by Friday and are available for download at www.lindenmainstreet.org or for pickup at Linden City Hall, 104 S. Main St. For more information, email lindenmainstreet@outlook.com or call 903-756-7502.

Linden is one of 89 participating cities in the Texas Main Street Program, an economic development program focused on revitalizing historic downtowns through historic preservation and business development.