Downtown Iowa City opens temporary pop-up storefront

IOWA CITY – The Iowa City Downtown District is opening a storefront where businesses can explore Iowa City as a market.

The pilot project, named In the Meantime, will open in April at 112 S. Linn St., in the former White Rabbit storefront.

“We are deliberately inviting entrepreneurs looking for a brick-and-mortar location to explore downtown,” Iowa City Downtown District Executive Director Betsy Potter said in a news release.

“We continue to broadcast that retail sales in storefronts are still the primary way consumers shop,” she said.

“Linn Street has long been a retail street where many beloved community businesses first started,” including Prairie Lights Books, she said.

In addition to retail recruitment, the storefront will support Dubuque Street boutiques impacted by the streetscape update this year, allowing them to host events, pop-ups and trunk shows.

The first In the Meantime event will be April 24 with a Willow & Stock Spring Floral Bouquet workshop. For more information about the project, people can email Potter at betsy@downtowniowacity.com or visit downtowniowacity.com.