Pop-up shops in Philadelphia’s Market East will stick around through December

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As city officials and business leaders huddle over how to revive Market East, a project to bring some economic activity back to the struggling corridor over the summer is declaring early success and making plans to continue through the end of the year.

The “Meantime on Market” initiative moved six pop-up businesses into vacant storefronts on the 900 block of Market Street in May. They drew close to 3,300 visitors and generated $30,000 in revenue in just the first three weeks, and helped boost foot traffic along the block by 10% that month, organizers say.

Now, four of the businesses —Almost Famous, Clubfriends Radio & Records, Love Now Media and Siddiq’s Water Ice — have been offered a chance to continue their leases at deeply discounted rates through December.

Brian Phillips, Meantime’s executive director and a principal at Interface Studio Architects, said the project has succeeded in enlivening a stagnant block and showing the potential for new business creation in the city, with a little help.

Beyond the revenues and increased foot traffic, everyone involved is “really inspired by all the other qualitative experiences that are happening, the community building that’s happening, the experimentation that people can have with their own businesses or creative projects when there’s no rent involved,” he said.

The project has also evolved into a “retail incubator” that is in the process of selecting new tenants to test their concepts in the three open spaces that are now available.

“We’re coming to realize that having an incubator or a place for people to reach a conclusion about their future, while being on the street and interacting with the public, is a really unique and exciting opportunity,” Phillips said.

Sprucing up Market East

Decades ago, Market East was home to the city’s historic shopping district between City Hall and 6th Street, but now has many vacant commercial spaces and sparse foot traffic.

It’s been largely in limbo since January 2025, when the 76ers organization canceled plans to build a new basketball stadium at Market and 10th streets. Last November, Mayor Cherelle Parker created the Market East Stakeholders Advisory Group to come up with a series of short-, medium- and long-term solutions and recommendations to revitalize the corridor.

The group, led by Brandywine Realty Trust CEO Jerry Sweeney, is expected to propose measures such as changes in land-use regulations, tax-incentive programs and requests for state assistance that could spur investment and develop a new vision for the area’s future.

The advisory group held its first meeting in February and is expected to release a plan later this year. A city Department of Planning spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the group’s recent activities.

Earlier this year, the city and the Center City District also developed a plan to spruce up Market East ahead of the World Cup games that drew hundreds of thousands of visitors to Philly in June and July.

That included new outdoor murals on the Fashion District mall and other buildings, refurbished bus shelters, new street trees and the pop-up retail spaces organized by Meantime. The shops are in buildings owned by a joint venture between Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment — the owner of the 76ers — and Comcast.

In addition to the six businesses, a seventh space was occupied by the city’s engagement center, called MY Market East, where residents could see information about the area and offer their input on its future.

High demand for low-cost space

Phillips said the six businesses got a boost from the World Cup, celebrations of the nation’s 250th anniversary and regular seasonal tourism.

Residents also say they appreciate the work to improve the block, he said.

“One of my favorite quotes when just talking to people about the project was somebody saying, ‘Now I walk on this side of the street,’” he said. “There’s something here to look at that makes it feel like it’s cared for, and that starts to rewire the way people move through a city, both in volume but also psychologically.”

Phillips said the success of the project, and of Meantime’s short-term pop-ups in other locations, point to the need for creative solutions that could help more small businesses get off the ground, fill the many vacant commercial spaces around the city and improve neighborhoods.

“There are so many startup, creative, entrepreneurship initiatives in Philadelphia that can fill spaces,” but there’s an issue of “alignment between rent expectation and what people can pay,” he said.

“It seems to us that for neighborhoods and neighbors and other businesses, having vacant storefronts converted to lights-on-at-night, active places where positive things are happening, is good for a whole block, and I think by extension, good for a whole neighborhood,” he said.

Meantime has been receiving expressions of interest in the Market Street spaces through its website, and is in discussions with potential tenants who would occupy the three open spaces from September through December.

Meantime has a lease on the properties through the end of the year. The project may continue in 2027, but that has not been determined yet, Phillips said. If it does continue, the three new tenants will likely be offered discounted leases, and four new businesses will be selected to fill the other spaces.