Evanston has a lot of empty ground-floor retail spaces, while its many residents who are trying to start businesses face the steep costs of establishing a brick-and-mortar presence.
The city’s Space to Place retail incubator program is an attempt to fill both needs. Katie Boden, economic development coordinator for the city, said 38 budding store operators applied for space in the inaugural program before the August deadline.
“That’s a pretty good response,” Boden said. “We’re really excited about the number of responses we got and the number of people who completed the application.”
The city’s economic development team and retail activation strategist Claire Seizovic, who is partnering with the city on the project, will whittle down those 38 applicants to approximately 16 operators who will get the chance to open a temporary business in downtown Evanston on Oct. 1.
“As we go through and review the applications, we’re going to see what works best for the space,” Boden said.
Each retailer will get 100 square feet of retail space in a shared 3,000-square-foot storefront downtown, she said.
The economic development team examined various ideas for an incubator program for several years before Seizovic, who had privately offered two weekend vendor popup markets in Evanston, reached out to the city with the Space to Place proposal, Boden said.
“We have a lot of home-based businesses and makers here, including many who pivoted after Covid,” she said. “Claire has done this in other cities. She is now an Evanston resident and was interested in doing this.”
Seizovic said Space to Place was designed in response to a survey of interested business operators last spring.
“The survey told us exactly what Evanston business owners need: affordable space, real mentorship, and a clear path to permanent tenancy,” she said in a prepared statement.
Space to Place will provide the retail space until Dec. 31 and offer business training and expert coaching to help operators identify opportunities to open in their own storefronts, Boden said.
“The hope is that we’ll be able to help transition them to some more permanent spaces,” she said. “They can look at downtown options or other business districts with cheaper rent. We will identify wraparound support and funding sources. Ideally, people who want to take it to the next step can get assistance with finding a space and getting support.”
Space to Place will present educational workshops during the three-month incubator process and help operators identify their next steps if desired, Boden said.
“If a couple transition to permanent storefronts, we would consider that success,” she said.
The “wraparound support” will include helping retailers understand business planning and insurance and legal requirements and identifying Evanston businesses that will offer that support, Boden said.
“We will provide them with industry experts to make sure they have all the tools they need,” she said. “We will direct them to potential grants or funding services they could leverage, as well.”
The spring survey elicited about 100 responses and confirmed interest in the program, Boden said. The inaugural Space to Place will be limited to retail sales, including prepared food, but not yet space for food preparation.
“This is the pilot, the first iteration of doing this,” she said. “Ideally, if we can continue going forward, we will probably look at how we can better support food businesses. For this market, we will be limited to prepackaged items. There is not a kitchen space. We got a lot of interest in that, as well.”
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The only costs to participants will be $175 a month in rent and sharing 10 percent of gross monthly sales with the city, Boden said.