Stefanie! Thanks for your feedback! I agree with you completely, Slow Food would be a great organization to help publicize any guerilla food events. The value of partnerships is at the heart of this concept. Building on existing enterprise, small business and social movements, the goal of the guerilla marketplace is less about commerce and more about leading by example. It's a temporary, hands-on workshop that teaches and inspires creative, entrepreneurial small business disguised as a marketplace.

That being said, I think it's important to really consider and define an audience for the event. Who should the "marketplace" geared towards? I would say creative professionals, artists and small business owners: successful, aspirational individuals and organizations who will create meaningful and unique "marketplace" experiences. Carrotmob.org is an interesting premise (a more focused Kickstarter?), although if the "marketplace" is curated appropriately, I don't think the project would need the support of crowdsourced funding.

Again, it's back to the notion of partnerships. And partnering with existing businesses and movements so that it's not something that has to be built from the ground up. Partnering with a Slow Food/ Alice Waters/ Outstanding in the Field/ Comme des Garcons/ Opening Ceremony/ Partners and Spade etc. All folks who are already participating in guerilla concepts of their own.

Which also brings me back to your point of having practitioners with experience mentoring businesses in the marketplace - that's the concept in a nutshell! The "marketplace" is a mentor to the community!

Again, thank you for your feedback! It's really helping me to think about the idea on a deeper level.

Hi Claire,

i really like your idea and think your question about participants is a really interesting one. I had some thoughts on it: Who does the guerilla market want for customers and its participants? There is potential to get some very diverse partnerships happening if we're able to recruit customers and participants from all walks of life and entrepreneurial ambition? What kinds of prices are we charging? How do we introduce the idea to the public?

Hi Natalie,

All great questions! Here's what I'm thinking: the guerilla marketplace should be geared towards two groups of people. The local creative class (Detroit's young, ambitious, creative entrepreneurs) and a national creative class (Americans with a creative, entrepreneurial spirit looking to relocate). The goal being twofold: to educate and inspire local residents AND to attract new business. At the onset, the focus should be on speaking to the creative class. The creative class has long been known as an indicator for urban renewal (just look at Downtown Los Angeles' Artist District, Echo Park in Los Angeles, Brooklyn!, Lower East Side, The Mission in San Francisco). We should speak specifically to the. Again, keeping in mind that the marketplace is intended as a catalyst for change. It's not a permanent solution that's meant to define a community. It's meant to jumpstart the community by inspiring a group of people who have historically helped abandoned urban areas to grow and change. The key is the temporary nature of the marketplace. I'd propose that it exists for no more than a month. But that month is heavily programmed with food events multiple times a week, workshops, book readings/ signings, artist interventions etc. As to price, it's free to come to the marketplace. Cost of goods will be determined by the vendors, but with the type of retailers/ restauranteurs I have in mind, prices will range from low to high. I can envision all of the items being under $100, with the majority being under $15-20. In fact, cost could be another limitation that we introduce to our retail/ restaurant/ artist partners: everything must be under $20. As for introducing the idea to the public, we should enlist a small, highly creative marketing team to help. Telling the story of the month long event and the unique partnerships will make for great national/ local press (Fast Company, NYTimes, Dwell Magazine, Yelp, blogs, local newspapers etc.) We should partner with local schools and universities in Detroit to participate in the marketplace and help to spread the word locally. We should also enlist local artists to initiate a guerilla ad campaign on the streets of Detroit. We could leave flyers at local restaurants, farmer's markets and corner stores. So many ways to get the word out!

I'd love your thoughts on some of these ideas!

HI Claire - Congrats on making it to the top 20! I think your ideas here on accessibility are super critical for making the guerilla marketplace a true catalyst of growth that is not limited to those who can afford to participate. I like your idea of partnering with local artists and schools, and wonder if you've considered a DIY workshop or makers lab component to your marketplace. It would be nice if people could partake by making and learning, developing skills and ideas that they can take with them.

For some inspiration, you can check out Eyebeam's holiday hackshop series: http://eyebeam.org/holiday-hackshop
 

Great discussion, guys! Claire: be sure to incorporate any feedback & new thoughts that you're keen on into your actual concept post by mid-week so that you're all set for the Evaluation round.

Thank you so much Camila! These are fantastic!

Thanks Sarah!

Hi Dan! I love the idea of using Etsy to curate local vendors/ participants in Detroit. Most excellent.

Thank you Meena! And, I love the idea of having to source all food locally! Imposing such limitations on the marketplace participants could really add a whole other dimension to the event. Perhaps participating shop owners could be challenged to have a designer/ artist etc. that they carry create a limited edition something inspired by Detroit. Or, created with materials sourced from Detroit. Or, in collaboration with a local artist/ metalworker/ printmaker/ bookbinder etc.

Hi Claire,

This is a great idea to build upon! As Meena mentioned, an emphasis on staying local can bring a lot f opportunities and interest within the city level.

The pop up stores are a great new incentive and vibrant models to attract businesses and community interest. I also like to think farmers markets and themed product months (one month it is about food, other about childrens clothing, homemade things....). Just some thoughts.

I love this Comme des Garcon shop, to me it is quite beautiful, especially as you walk into the back room. The details of the old mix with the new and the costs of "design" are minimal in comparison with building a brand new shop. Ive come across many of these shops in Europe and as I walk down the streets of San Francisco and Oakland, Ive encountered quite a handful. Beautiful new ideas from local products to big names of design.

It is great that the guerilla pop up stores are becoming so successful, although, most of the ones I see are very expensive designer labels for a limited crowd. How can continue this trend of reusing spaces but also make it available to a more "economical" shopper?
What models can we build that supply the needs of both extremes of society, as well as the ones in between?

Hello Camila! Thank you so much for your feedback. I agree completely with the idea of staying local, when possible. That being said, the temporary marketplace is meant to be a catalyst for change in Detroit. It's about introducing inspiration and bringing life from already thriving metropolitan areas to jumpstart a vibrant creative community locally. Enlisting local talent and resources to help in any way possible must absolutely be a part of the project!

I think it would be easy to make it economical and interesting to all walks of life. Comme des Garcons is a high end designer, but the retail/ restaurant partners don't have to be! Every partner should be creative and entrepreneurial in spirit. It's all about who we choose to participate in the marketplace. Everyone should be of the same ilk: small business, one-of-a-kind product, sustainable, entrepreneurial value set etc.

Can you find links to any of the pop up stores that you've seen in Europe/ SF/ Oakland? I'd love to see some more examples!

Hi Divya! I love your concept! Thank you so much for sharing. The guerilla marketplace as I envision it is all about being a catalyst for creative, small business in Detroit. It's a workshop in it's own right. The idea being that by bringing in successful, dynamic small businesses from outside the city, we inspire the people of Detroit and show the world that Detroit is a city of opportunity! A (stunning) blank canvas. By carefully curating the independent businesses (shops, restaurants, museums, bookshops etc.) who participate, we'll be guiding the tone of Detroit's future.

Your idea of surveying the community to identify existing unique businesses/ brands is excellent. Your slipper analogy is perfect.
It's an important first step that should be applied to every concept: spend time in Detroit and make note of what's there/ what's needed/ what's wanted.