Shops on Saginaw
The Shops on Saginaw began as an experiment to see how well a retail space could thrive in downtown Flint, MI. After the renovation of the Dryden Building, the first floor remained empty. With the large windows and prime location along 2nd Street, it was an area that was beginning to see more foot traffic than in years past. In the summer of 2018, Skypoint Ventures hired five high school interns to plan and implement the pop-up shops now known as Shops on Saginaw. They reached out to various vendors, some of whom already had shops and others who were known in the community but didn’t already have a retail space. The plan gave small businesses the opportunity for a presence downtown and to grow at a minimal cost without the risk of a full retail space. The response from shoppers in Flint has been very positive and the shops expanded in November 2019 to include more than 25 retailers.