MYSHOP – TRANSFORMING PROPERTIES COAST TO COAST
Entrepreneurial dreams are becoming retail realities at various ShopCore Properties centers thanks to MyShop. This new program offers short-term leases for local businesses and entrepreneurs to test a new market and grow their customer base before committing to a long-term lease.
“We started a program for locals to understand that they can operate a business for a short period of time,” said Lindsay Major, Senior Director of Ancillary Income at ShopCore Properties. “We knew we needed to educate them about the possibilities of entrepreneurship, and the we could give them along the way.”
Leases can be as short as one day to accommodate an estate sale, or extend for one year ShopCore will partner with prospective tenants, offering flexible lease terms for inline and outdoor spaces, as well as guidance, fixtures and assistance from highly trained staff.
“We have three- or four-day popups that open three or four times a year,” Major said. “We work with the tenants to help them shape their vision with terms that help them succeed.”
The result is ever-evolving tenant mixes from entrepreneurs, local artisans and even some long-term tenants that need extra space for a brief period. The program has been of special interest to women entrepreneurs, she noted. A fashion boutique in Miami that caters to the Cuban American market used MyShop to offer a shipping service to Cuba, among other tenants.
The goal for ShopCore is to create an exciting atmosphere at its properties and incubate new full-time tenants, and the program already is succeeding. At Downtown Palm Beach Gardens, an existing long-term tenant wanted to launch an accessories business. Its MyShop popup has extended a six-month lease for another year.
“As important as this is, we’re not just building a new group of tenants. We’re helping someone quite possibly build a new life,” Major said. “It’s so very satisfying for all of us to see someone’s dream come true.”