POPPING to the shops in Dowerin these days can be a wonderfully mysterious event.
One week, locals and visitors might find a shop full of beautiful handmade pots and macramé, the following week they could peruse the latest fashions, then the next they might find a beautician willing to tend to all their beauty needs.
And THAT is the beauty of the pop-up shop, a multi-functional space in the main street of Dowerin that offers locals and tourists a huge variety of goods and services that otherwise wouldn’t exist, according to Shire of Dowerin chief executive officer Andrea Selvey.
“It really is a space that is only limited by one’s imagination,” Ms Selvey said.
“We wanted a wide range of small businesses to have the opportunity to access and utilise the space, particularly those that will complement existing businesses already along the main street.
“It’s a unique hire space that offers a blank canvas for anyone wishing to use it, and we’ve already had several fantastic businesses take it up.”
The Dowerin Pop-Up Shop was a previously unused, run-down space along the main street and owned by the Shire that attempted to lease it out but didn’t receive much of a response.
At the same time, like many small shires in the Wheatbelt, Dowerin was looking for creative ways to attract new businesses to continue to inject vibrancy into the main street.
Then-community development officer Louise Hagboom put forward the idea to turn the space into a pop-up shop, after anecdotal evidence suggested there were many small businesses around Dowerin that would be interested in participating.
Micro-businesses by nature neither have the volume or the capacity to run their own individual premise, so it was clear a versatile, short-term pop-up space would be ideal.
Once the idea was given the green light, the building was then given a facelift with assistance from Dowerin Work Camp helpers last November, who enthusiastically painted the interior and exterior, sanded and varnished the floorboards back to their former glory.
It was ready by the start of this year, with the terms being set at a $50 pop-up shop membership fee that entitles the holder to use the space as many times as they like, with a maximum of one continuous month.
“We knew there were many creative people in the area who were interested in a short-term shopfront,” Ms Selvey said.
“We wanted something that added some activation to the main street and was also a point of difference for Dowerin.
“As far as we know, there are not too many pop-up shops in the smaller towns of WA, but it’s a creative, low cost way to activate unused spaces.
“It’s so lovely to walk past and see members of the wider community in the pop-up shop supporting small, talented local businesses.”
One such business is Pots and Tangles, owned and operated by Dowerin local Tammy Minson, who offers macramé hangers, everlasting seed bombs, cement planters and potted succulents.
After moving to Dowerin in early 2016 with her husband and young son, Tammy’s macramé hobby had already begun to explode into a thriving business, so to continue its momentum, she set up a Mother’s Day market this year at the pop-up space.
“Like any Wheatbelt town news travels fast, so I heard about the pop-up shop very quickly through the Dowerin grape vine,” Tammy said.
“I think the idea for the pop-up shop is utter brilliance, a space that is malleable and allows me as a business owner the flexibility to utilise the space as and when I require it.”
Tammy decided a month before her daughter’s due date earlier this year, would be the perfect time to hold a large Mother’s Day pop-up market in the space to sell all of her existing stock.
This also gave her an opportunity to introduce a new product line – the everlasting seed bombs, which were incredibly popular.
Due to the flexibility of being able to use the space how she wanted, Tammy was able to transform it into a Pots & Tangles paradise.
When it came to deciding which day she was going to hold her pop-up market, Tammy conducted a quick poll from a group of 30 women she felt would be her typical demographic to find out what day and time they would visit a pop-up market.
“It was clear the vast majority did their shopping and kids sporting commitments on a Thursday afternoon, so it made sense to have it on that day,” she said.
“The response was overwhelming, people travelled from all the surrounding towns, even as far at Mukinbudin, to come and grab a Mother’s Day gift.
“There was not a lull in traffic the whole afternoon and I was completely sold out of everything by 5pm when I closed up, so I consider it an incredibly successful event.”
One week, locals and visitors might find a shop full of beautiful handmade pots and macramé, the following week they could peruse the latest fashions, then the next they might find a beautician willing to tend to all their beauty needs.
And THAT is the beauty of the pop-up shop, a multi-functional space in the main street of Dowerin that offers locals and tourists a huge variety of goods and services that otherwise wouldn’t exist, according to Shire of Dowerin chief executive officer Andrea Selvey.
“It really is a space that is only limited by one’s imagination,” Ms Selvey said.
“We wanted a wide range of small businesses to have the opportunity to access and utilise the space, particularly those that will complement existing businesses already along the main street.
“It’s a unique hire space that offers a blank canvas for anyone wishing to use it, and we’ve already had several fantastic businesses take it up.”
The Dowerin Pop-Up Shop was a previously unused, run-down space along the main street and owned by the Shire that attempted to lease it out but didn’t receive much of a response.
At the same time, like many small shires in the Wheatbelt, Dowerin was looking for creative ways to attract new businesses to continue to inject vibrancy into the main street.
Then-community development officer Louise Hagboom put forward the idea to turn the space into a pop-up shop, after anecdotal evidence suggested there were many small businesses around Dowerin that would be interested in participating.
Micro-businesses by nature neither have the volume or the capacity to run their own individual premise, so it was clear a versatile, short-term pop-up space would be ideal.
Once the idea was given the green light, the building was then given a facelift with assistance from Dowerin Work Camp helpers last November, who enthusiastically painted the interior and exterior, sanded and varnished the floorboards back to their former glory.
It was ready by the start of this year, with the terms being set at a $50 pop-up shop membership fee that entitles the holder to use the space as many times as they like, with a maximum of one continuous month.
“We knew there were many creative people in the area who were interested in a short-term shopfront,” Ms Selvey said.
“We wanted something that added some activation to the main street and was also a point of difference for Dowerin.
“As far as we know, there are not too many pop-up shops in the smaller towns of WA, but it’s a creative, low cost way to activate unused spaces.
“It’s so lovely to walk past and see members of the wider community in the pop-up shop supporting small, talented local businesses.”
One such business is Pots and Tangles, owned and operated by Dowerin local Tammy Minson, who offers macramé hangers, everlasting seed bombs, cement planters and potted succulents.
After moving to Dowerin in early 2016 with her husband and young son, Tammy’s macramé hobby had already begun to explode into a thriving business, so to continue its momentum, she set up a Mother’s Day market this year at the pop-up space.
“Like any Wheatbelt town news travels fast, so I heard about the pop-up shop very quickly through the Dowerin grape vine,” Tammy said.
“I think the idea for the pop-up shop is utter brilliance, a space that is malleable and allows me as a business owner the flexibility to utilise the space as and when I require it.”
Tammy decided a month before her daughter’s due date earlier this year, would be the perfect time to hold a large Mother’s Day pop-up market in the space to sell all of her existing stock.
This also gave her an opportunity to introduce a new product line – the everlasting seed bombs, which were incredibly popular.
Due to the flexibility of being able to use the space how she wanted, Tammy was able to transform it into a Pots & Tangles paradise.
When it came to deciding which day she was going to hold her pop-up market, Tammy conducted a quick poll from a group of 30 women she felt would be her typical demographic to find out what day and time they would visit a pop-up market.
“It was clear the vast majority did their shopping and kids sporting commitments on a Thursday afternoon, so it made sense to have it on that day,” she said.
“The response was overwhelming, people travelled from all the surrounding towns, even as far at Mukinbudin, to come and grab a Mother’s Day gift.
“There was not a lull in traffic the whole afternoon and I was completely sold out of everything by 5pm when I closed up, so I consider it an incredibly successful event.”
