Last-Minute Valentine’s Day Gifts in Atlanta — Powered by a Georgia Tech Grad’s Retail-Focused Startup

Hypepotamus first met Atlanta entrepreneur Rett Moore this January at the opening launch party of Terminus Hub, the South Downtown coworking space for local creative business owners bringing new life to the quickly-transforming neighborhood.

The Hub is just a few doors down from where Moore, a recent graduate of Georgia Tech, is building his startup platform PopUp Spaces, a venture looking to further transform the small business community of the South Downtown neighborhood and beyond.

PopUp Spaces connects PopUp-style business owners with temporary retail spaces. Described as the “Airbnb for popups,” the platform creates accessible storefronts for small businesses.

For Moore, it’s about creating “collaborative” real estate experiences, especially in underutilized spaces. He got the idea after COVID, noticing that small businesses relied on their online presence, but lacked physical storefront opportunities. At the same time, in the wake of a slew of COVID retail closings, there were so many empty spaces around Atlanta.

Moore describes it as a win-win for small businesses as well as commercial real estate and property owners. It gives small business vendors more spaces to share their products, and can also serve as an impactful paid advertising platform. Property owners create more foot traffic with a curated list of new retailers.

“I built PopUp Spaces with the intention of empowering small business owners to gain visibility and build brand awareness in real life communities without the long-term commitment or overhead associated with traditional leases. I match pop-up vendors with carefully curated locations to create symbiotic relationships that help all parties involved,” he added.

Popping Up in Across Atlanta

Moore holds a degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering and went through the Create-X program at Georgia Tech while he was a student. The concept for PopUp Spaces started right after COVID and initially grew through popups around the Atlanta Beltline’s Krog District. Since then, he’s put together spaces inside local tech hubs like The Biltmore, Atlanta Tech Village, and Tech Square in Midtown. He estimates that he has put on over 100 pop-up events to date.

Now Moore is activating space in South Downtown Atlanta at 211 Mitchell Street. The South Downtown launch in January was briefly interrupted by Atlanta’s snow days, but has since started to gain momentum.

And if you’re looking for last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts, the PopUp Spaces’ South Downtown concept, open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, currently features jewelry and flowers from local vendors. There will also be events this week at The Biltmore in Midtown Atlanta and at Atlanta Tech Villages’ Buckhead location. That makes it a perfect opportunity to support small businesses while finding something special.

See the South Downton space in action on PopUp Spaces’ Instagram

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