The Pop-up Mount Vernon

The Mount Vernon Downtown Association (MVDA) is excited to announce a new economic development initiative: The Pop-Up. The MVDA has entered a lease at 325 W. Kincaid Street to offer a space where entrepreneurs can test and refine a business or retail concept for a period of 30 to 120 days. Application can be found here.

The goal of the new program, with its dedicated space, is to foster new businesses and help them become ready to sign long term leases elsewhere in the community, particularly in the downtown. Interested parties should contact MVDA Executive Director, Ellen Gamson at director@mountvernondowntown.org, for more information.

“Downtown is poised for an explosion of growth, with several street-level spaces currently available, and at least four more spaces currently under renovation for availability later this year,” says the Association’s Executive Director, Ellen Gamson. “We want to take an even more proactive approach to developing the business mix downtown that will help the entire community thrive.”

The space, which offers approximately 500 square feet with great visibility at a gateway location to the downtown district, has undergone recent renovations to prepare it to be a neutral canvas, ready to temporarily assume the character of its next inhabitants. The Mount Vernon Downtown Association is now seeking proposals from interested businesses, the first of which could open as early as April 1, just in time for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and the Tulip Festival Street Fair.

“It is through the generous support of our Main Street Tax Credit Contributors and great partnership with the City of Mount Vernon that we are able to offer this opportunity to promising beginning business owners,” Gamson said. “While no business concept is excluded, preferential consideration is given to businesses that align with the strategies adopted during our Main Street Refresh process last year.” These strategies favor retail businesses that support the positioning of downtown Mount Vernon as the community focal point for Food, Art and Entertainment, and Outdoor Recreation and Active Lifestyle.

Interested parties should contact MVDA Executive Director, Ellen Gamson, for more information at director@mountvernondowntown.org, or here: POP-UP MV APPLICATION

The Mount Vernon Downtown Association is an accredited Main Street America community that works to cultivate a vibrant and prosperous downtown while honoring its historic character.