Downtown Montclair to Honor New Jersey's 350th Birthday With Pop Up Store

Montclair will soon be home to the first NJ350 Pop-Up Store in Essex County, one of only 16 Pop-Up stores in the state dedicated to celebrating New Jersey’s 350th Anniversary.

The new NJ350 Pop-Up Store will be hosted by Montclair Center in the historic downtown commercial district.

The Montclair Pop–Up Store is the thirteenth of only 16 temporary store sites that have been chosen in 14 communities during 2014. This first-of-its-kind unique statewide program of temporary stores will travel over 1,000 miles during NJ’s 350th anniversary year.

“We’re excited that Montclair Center was chosen as a host of New Jersey’s 350 Pop-up store program — a first-of-its-kind project — and proud to be the first host in Essex County,” Luther Flurry, Executive Director of Montclair Center said.

“Our great downtown has a wonderful mix of independent retail, fine dining, and a vibrant art scene,” Flurry added. “The NJ 350 Pop-Up will feature music, demonstrations and special guests daily. We are particularly looking forward to Shop Small Saturday and hope this Pop-Up will help us kick off the holiday season.”

NJ350 Pop-Up stores celebrate New Jersey’s Sesquarcentennial, also known as the 350th anniversary, and specialize in merchandise with a unique New Jersey focus.

Featured products are what curators have dubbed ‘Jerseyana.’ Included are the ‘Jerseyopoly’ board game and “Goodnight, Jersey” children’s book, as well as NJ350 and state-branded merchandise; educational items; books about NJ – its history, quirks, nature, food, and politics; items specific to the arts and creativity in Montclair; Governor Chris Christie’s popular state-silhouette lapel pin; Items from the Island of Jersey, from which NJ received its name, and more.

Downtown Montclair was a winner of the Great American Main Street Award, and a semi-finalist in the APA-NJ Great Downtown contest, which will be held from Nov. 21 through 30.

Montclair Center has also been named New Jersey’s Favorite Downtown Art District. Store hours for the Montclair Center Pop-Up can be found on the NJ350 website.

While Vineland, South Orange and Trenton will host the NJ350 Pop-Ups in December, Montclair Center’s unique wares will not be found at any other location.

“It is our hope the NJ 350 Pop-Up stores will raise awareness of the rich history, character, and commerce in our traditional towns all over the state,” Jeff Buehler, State Coordinator of the Main Street New Jersey and Improvement District Programs at the DCA said.

“We also want to show that a vacant storefront can have retail success, hopefully inspiring small businesses to fill that space after each pop-up store moves to the next location around the state,” Buehler added.

About Main Street New Jersey

Main Street New Jersey is a comprehensive revitalization program that promotes the historic and economic redevelopment of traditional business districts in New Jersey.

The program builds on the Main Street Approach™ that was developed by the National Trust’s National Main Street Center in 1980 to assist downtown revitalization efforts nationwide.

Communities participating in Main Street New Jersey receive valuable technical support and training to assist in improving their Main Streets. The program employs a four-point approach that focuses on:

• Building a strong, local Main Street organization that is well-represented and funded by stakeholders such as residents, merchants, civic groups, and bankers;

• Restructuring the district’s economics by engaging in such activities as recruiting new businesses, converting unused space for new uses, and sharpening the competitiveness of merchants;

• Enhancing the visual appearance, attractiveness and traffic management of the business district; and

• Promoting the district through festivals, retail events and marketing campaign to encourage consumer traffic.

For more information, visit NJ350ShopLocal on Facebook and Twitter, or on the web.

For more information regarding Main Street New Jersey, click here.