Northern Kentucky revitalization nonprofit Renaissance Covington is bringing home its mission of developing the city's "urban core through creative placemaking, special events, community programming and small business support" — literally.
RCOV is transforming its former office at 2 W. Pike St. into a year-round locally focused shop called Pike St. Pop-Up.
The storefront will host one or two rotating local businesses each quarter to help entrepreneurs refine their business models and test out expansion ideas.
The Pike Street Pop-Up was inspired by RCOV's Make Covington Pop! program and runs in concert with other small business accelerators like the Covington Farmers Market and MORTAR Covington, which provides knowledge, resources and connections for historically underserved communities.
“I'm excited to take our support of entrepreneurship a step further by offering a permanent, rotating pop-up shop,” said Jill Schneider, program manager of MORTAR Covington. “Pike St. Pop-Up will give both space and opportunity to small businesses at a time when affordable retail space is hard to come by.”
Schneider add that this project will also be a great next step for MORTAR graduates.
The first tenant of the Pike Street Pop-Up will be Mud Lane Blooms, a "farmer florist" and event design company run by Miya Sohoza, who grows her own flowers and greenery. She's been a vendor at the Covington Farmers Market for several years.
"Covington is my home, has been for a long time and I’m thrilled to be building my small business here," she says.
Mud Lane Blooms will open on July 1.
For more info and updates on the Pike Street Pop-Up, follow facebook.com/renaissancecovington.
