OurShop

In 2021, OurShop was launched in Cincinnati. The pilot program, managed by the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, and with support from The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation and the Kolar Experience Institute, is activating two vacant storefronts with five small businesses. OurShop is uniquely designed to help make smart, data-driven decisions about main street retail and placemaking in a post-COVID and tech-enriched world. As part of the six-month project, we are measuring the impact of placemaking, programming and other interventions on sales. This data is helping program stakeholders to better understand the future of brick and mortar retail in urban neighborhoods while informing future public and private investments in entrepreneurship ecosystems and neighborhood retail strategies. The initiative is meant to inform public and private investments in entrepreneurship ecosystems, public space design, neighborhood retail strategies, and commercial district operating systems.

WCPO news coverage, “Free rent offered to small business owners in College Hill for the holidays.”