WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (February 21, 2020) – The West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA), the City of West Palm Beach and the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) have teamed up to bring new life to Clematis Street with a pop-up, innovative market and retail hub that introduces “Thoroughfare” to Downtown West Palm Beach. Officially opening on Friday, February 28, 2020, Thoroughfare showcases an eclectic group of merchants piloting their concepts on the porch at 314 Clematis Street. The first seven merchants will sell products including food and beverage, clothing, greenery and more. The Thoroughfare pop-up will remain in place until construction in the building commences. Thoroughfare is made possible with the generous donation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Cities Challenge Fund.
Designed to be an incubator for new businesses, each vendor in Thoroughfare will have individually set hours of operation with majority open on Saturdays. Featured offerings in the pop-up include some familiar names like Oceana Coffee, Cider Donuts and Dina’s Vegan Deli. Owner of popular vegan snack Chunkie Dunkies, will introduce their new concept “Dina’s Vegan Deli” which will offer plant-based cheesesteaks on the weekends. Meanwhile, newcomer and mother-daughter team Bubbly Boba will bring classic Asian teas and drinks featuring tapioca pearls.
In addition, two clothing stores, After5Lux and OddFellows, will be offering stylish options for women and men respectively. Lastly, GROW, a new company aimed to help people live more biophilic, or nature-centric lifestyles will sell succulents and provide services to host mobile parties and events.
“Thoroughfare falls directly in line with my vision to create a community of opportunity for all,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James. “Entrepreneurs and small businesses like those in this pop-up are the lifeblood of a prosperous West Palm Beach and gathering a group of start-ups like these on Clematis Street, the heart of our downtown, gives them incredible exposure to residents and visitors from all walks of life. I’m excited to support this project.”
“Thoroughfare is a truly local effort to drive unique small businesses into our Downtown district,” said Sherryl Muriente, Manager of Urban Placemaking at the DDA. “Even down to our marketing efforts, design work and build-out, every aspect of Thoroughfare has been created by people who are focused in making our local community thrive.”
Local contribution to this project includes design work by Adam Sheetz of No. 9 Creative, general contracting work from Ben Etheridge, owner of Steel Tie Spirits, and a fun social media scavenger hunt campaign designed by Andres Espinoza of Gamelab, located inside 1909. Designed to drive foot traffic to Thoroughfare, Espinoza’s scavenger hunt will consist of seven creative weekly challenges to engage teams and provide a fun experience of the Downtown district.
“Every scavenger hunt challenge is created to generate awareness on what Downtown West Palm Beach has to offer from an artistic, historic, and cultural perspective,” explained Espinoza. “Not only will the initiative drive business to Thoroughfare, it will also help residents and visitors experience the area in a whole new way.”
The official grand opening for the Thoroughfare pop-up is Friday, February 28 at 4 p.m. For more information on Thoroughfare including hours of operation or to sign up for the social media challenge, visit https://thoroughfare.co/.
