Grassroots Enterprise Pop-Up Shop, Maidenhead

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…

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…into this!

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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.

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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!

 

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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!

Photo of wine tasting session

Just what we needed!