South downtown Atlanta’s new pop-up shops are first step in big project

April 15,2019

Matt Kempner, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Deanna Williams, an administrative assistant at the Fulton County courthouse, picks up her food order during a "Pop-Up Row" shopping event along the 200 block of Mitchell Street SW in Atlanta's South Downtown community on Thursday, April 11, 2019.

The commotion on Mitchell Street amazed passerby Lavina Vance.

“They’ve got balloons and music playing. There are people out walking. They’ve got food trucks,” she gushed to a friend after seeing a string of new shops.

The little jolt of shopping activity is temporary for a long-neglected stretch of south downtown Atlanta. But some see it as a hint of far bigger things to come.

A developer gave eight pop-up shops rent-free space in formerly shuttered storefronts. The pop-ups launched last week in buildings erected more than 100 years ago as hotels near what was once the city’s bustling train station.

Read the complete article at the link above.