13 Oct Grassroots Enterprise Pop-Up Shop, Maidenhead
We’ve had a fantastic time this autumn running our very own pop-up shop, Grassroots Enterprise, in Maidenhead’s main shopping centre, the Nicholson Centre. For six weeks, ten Strive graduates ran the shop and promoted their new start-ups to the public. This was an exciting project which also enabled over one hundred local Strivers to benefit from workshops and a mini-hub workspace.
We transformed the space from this…
…into this!
The ten retail start-ups gained fantastic exposure and real experience in what it’s like to run their own shop, whilst benefitting from support from us and their fellow Strive graduates on a day-to-day basis. The Grassroots Enterprise pop-up was a huge success, not just for the start-ups there, but also for the wider community of start-ups in the area, which is ever-expanding.
Have a dream come true at our kid’s day!
We’re excited to be leading the councils and local housing providers start-up support which has helped to make Maidenhead a great place to start a business. After the a fun packed launch day, with Mayor Kellaway, the shop went from strength to strength, drawing in local customers thanks to a full calendar of events. These included Kids Days, photoshoots and business start-up workshops on everything from gorilla marketing to accounting.
However, perhaps most fun was the evening schedule, which included a pop-up Wine, Chocolate and Smoothie Tasting Evening, a fantastic event which was generously sponsored by Housing Solutions.
Housing Solutions have now been involved in no fewer than 8 Strive programmes and it was great to have them back the event – especially as it allowed us all to indulge in several tasty treats!
We get hands on with gorilla marketing!
One of the best long-term results of the Grassroots Enterprise pop-up shop was the boost it gave to the Strive Community in Maidenhead, which now includes over one hundred Strivers. The shop created a focal point for the community to come too, and acted as a reference point for others. Several new links and friendships between start-ups were forged in the space that will help to sustain a wave of enterprise in the town.
Here at Enterprise CUBE HQ, we have absolutely loved the whole experience; it’s been fantastic to get hands-on and creative with the building of the Pop-Up’s interior on a bootstrapping budget. It was with a heavy heart that we said goodbye to Grassroots Enterprise Pop-Up, but be sure to watch this space for more pop-ups in the not so distant future!
Take a look at what the local press thought of it all here and here, and check out our Facebook page for some great photos!
Just what we needed!