CHICAGO TRIBUNE FEATURES POP LOCAL
Select businesses will get three months of free rent to try out a brick and mortar space at the Burr Ridge Center starting in October.
The program, dubbed Pop Local, is intended to fill out the center and use some empty space and also give new or online businesses a chance to see how a storefront could help them. The program is open to retail, event and community offerings.
Applications run through Aug. 10 and after that, a panel of judges will pick five finalists who will be interviewed in person later that month. The participants will be announced Aug. 24 and the business owners will begin their three months of rent-free use in October.
The Village Center is owned by Edwards Realty Company (ERC) and president Ramzi Hassan said he thought the program could be a fun way to attract new businesses and help consumers.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for small businesses to showcase their products and we think this will launch that initiative,” he said.
He said the Village Center will debut the program, but he expects other so-called lifestyle centers owned by ERC will follow suit. The company owns a center in Michigan and one in Orland Park.
Hassan said lifestyle centers differ from traditional strip malls because they reflect a wide variety of community interests and the Pop Local program wants to tap into that.
“Lifestyle Centers are open air shopping centers,” he said. “They’re very walkable with lush landscaping and what differentiates these centers from other strip centers is the cohesiveness and the amenities that are offered including community events, curated marketing and programming.”
The Burr Ridge Village Center, for example, hosts community concerts, Halloween and Christmas events as well as housing, dining, crafts and traditional retail stores.
“When you are a tenant at one of these centers, you’re not alone, you’re part of something bigger,” Hassan said.
Since the pandemic, many of the public celebrations _ like the concert series _ were put on hold, though Hassan said he’s tried to offer safe alternatives.
“We had to adapt,” he said. “We do feel the centers are the heartbeat of our company and our community, so we’ve done drive in movies and offered virtual Instagram live events and things like that.”
These programs remind the community the Center is open for business, while also offering entertainment.
Mayor Gary Grasso said he likes what the Village Center owners are doing.
“I’m very supportive. I think it’s a bold attempt . . . to bring energy and foot traffic and to bring new business to the Village Center,” Grasso said.
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