Mayor Byron W. Brown, Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC) and partners at Buffalo Place today announced applications are now being taken for local retailers to be part of the 2021 ‘Queen City Pop-Up Holiday Edition.’
This year’s ‘Queen City Pop-Up Holiday Edition’ will take place in a new venue, the Hyatt Regency Buffalo, in the 500-block of Main Street, at 2 Fountain Plaza. This year’s holiday pop-up will run one week, from Saturday, November 27, 2021, which is Small Business Saturday and will continue through Saturday, December 4, 2021.
“As we bring back the Queen City Pop-Up program after a year of Covid-19 closures, we are re-launching with a weeklong Holiday Market. We are very excited to present this weeklong market that will be giving retailers the opportunity to test their products in downtown Buffalo market, and to give Buffalo residents and visitors a place to shop for holiday gifts,” said BUDC President Brandye Merriweather. “The 2021 ‘Queen City Pop-Up Holiday Edition’ will continue our goal to create a vibrant downtown Buffalo and introduce our small retailers
to a larger audience.”
“As we grow Buffalo into an inclusive City of opportunity, the Queen City Pop-Up program complements our continuing efforts to draw more people into downtown’s central business district to shop – and to cultivate an environment for local small businesses to thrive,” Mayor Brown said. “The pandemic has been particularly tough on our small business community, and this year’s Queen City Pop-Up Holiday Edition will offer participants a way to reintroduce their products to shoppers.”
Queen City Pop-Up is an innovative retail program, which debuted in 2015, designed to encourage retail activity along Main Street by creating new “pop-up” shops that feature local retailers. The project activates empty storefronts by filling them with retailers on a short-term basis, free of charge.
Of the 46 retailers who have participated, over 85% have been minority and/or women-owned businesses and several have gone on to open brick and mortar stores.
Douglas Development, which recently purchased the Hyatt Regency Buffalo, will provide free space to this year’s holiday pop-up participants.
BUDC will be accepting requests for proposals from interested small retailers through 4 p.m., Friday, November 12, 2021. The RFP and information about this year’s holiday pop-up is available at: www.buffalourbandevelopment.com, www.buffaloplace.com, and www.city-buffalo.com.
Interested retailers can also pick up a copy at BUDC offices, 95 Perry St., Suite 404. They can also contact BUDC President Brandye Merriweather at (716) -856-6525, ext. 131 or at bmerriweather@buffalourbandevelopment.com.