Meet Karen Boone and Jessica Minesinger of Pop-up @ 4 W. Main

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Boone and Jessica Minesinger.

Hi Karen and Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
Pop-up @ 4 W. Main is a unique and picturesque downtown Troy’s Square event venue. The space is versatile, has a licensed satellite kitchen, and can be used for many events or gatherings of up to 49 people. When we opened in 2018 as lunch @ 4 W. Main, there was a need for lunch options that were quick and tasty. At that time, downtown Troy only had a few restaurants serving lunch that you could get in and out of in less than 30 minutes. Until early spring of 2020, we worked with local food truck vendors to serve lunch from 11 – 2. Every day was a different vendor and a different menu. It was fun, delicious, and successful. Throughout 2021, we reviewed our business model, and in the fall, we rebranded it as Pop-up @ 4 W. Main based on seeing the need for a multi-use venue and more restaurants opening up for lunch service in downtown Troy.

Pop-up Shops: We recognized the need to support small, locally-owned businesses that need more time to be ready for the overhead of a brick-and-mortar location. When you use our space as a business, you get to set up a shop and sell your goods as if they were your own. Downtown Troy is a busy area with a lot of foot traffic, so advertising your business and selling creative products in our venue is a cost-effective way to get your business up and running.

Private Events: The area has many large venues, but we fill the need for smaller, more intimate events. It’s tough to find a venue that fits the needs of smaller private events like bridal showers, baby showers, rehearsal dinners, birthday parties, etc. Especially one that has a kitchen attached. We have a great location with easy access, and we make your event simple – you provide the food and the people, and we provide the venue.

Corporate Meeting Space: Moving your team meetings to a new space sparks creativity and inspiration while boosting your concentration, resulting in more effective meetings. It improves participants’ morale and increases their overall energy. We have a smart TV, dry-erase boards, Wi-Fi, and a sound system. Our pricing is cost-effective, and we can coordinate boxed lunches if needed.

Food Vendors: We are licensed as a Level 3 Satellite Kitchen through the Miami County Health Department. If a vendor’s food is prepared in a licensed kitchen or falls under the OH Department of Agriculture Cottage Food laws, you can set up and sell your goods from our venue.

It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every kick is a boost if you can be flexible, willing to change, and creative. Being shut down due to the pandemic forced us to look at our revenue sources and the changes in our downtown. More restaurants were opening up. And we found that pop-up shops and private events were less work for us and more income. In the fall of 2021, we rebranded as Pop-up @ 4 W. Main. An all-inclusive venue where you can eat, party, or shop – depending on the day. We continue to offer pop-up lunches and dinners with some of our favorite vendors and host many private events and pop-up shops. More recently, we, along with the other downtown businesses, have had to navigate the year-long construction project on West Main Street. On the heels of that, this same street was closed for 10 months, and all traffic was rerouted around the Square. This impacted our business as well as the other downtown businesses. We made an extra effort to promote our vendors and other businesses and did our best to communicate with our private event clients to make their events as smooth as possible. Troy Main Street and Troy Chamber of Commerce did a great job of helping the downtown businesses navigate this as well.

Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your work next?
Pop-up @ 4 W. Main is co-owned by Jessica Minesinger and Karen Boone. We have worked together for 20+ years. Jessica owns 2 other businesses – Surgical Compensation & Consulting, Inc. and Troy Land Development, Inc. Karen works for those companies in various capacities.

We call Pop-up “an incubator for small businesses.” And we’re proud to be able to support and promote small and home-based businesses. Poppin’ Off, Oh Crepe & Oh! Boba are our official Pop-up babies, but we have helped many other small businesses gain traction. Michelle’s Macarons had a few pop-ups with us before opening her brick & mortar. Food trucks, home bakers, online boutiques, local artists, and homemakers regularly use our venue to set up their little pop-up shops. We have a new vendor that we are excited about – Drinks Near Me Mocktail Lounge – so stay tuned for details on that!

Pop-up @ 4 W. Main is unique and vital to the Troy small business community. The fact that our venue is adaptable and multi-use is enormous. We have maintained our health department licensing so food vendors can sell from our space. Our furniture can easily be redesigned to host a pop-up shop, dinner party, bridal shower, or business meeting. The process is really simple, and we are fairly hands-off except for the marketing of your small business, which also makes us super unique. We are constantly promoting other people and businesses.

What matters most to you?
Jessica: Pop-Up is the ultimate entrepreneurial journey, which I love! I started my first business in my senior year of college 27 years ago and have been self-employed ever since. I am an entrepreneur at heart and am uniquely aware of the challenges of starting and running a successful business. My favorite part of Pop-Up is supporting other small start-up companies, especially woman-owned companies, as they work through their business plans and find their market niche. Pop-up is a great place to test a small business concept on your schedule and budget.

Karen: I enjoy working with people as they are planning their various pop-ups and events. The change of pace of not sitting in front of a computer all day is a plus to me. I also enjoy being involved in the local downtown community. There are challenges to this, but I chose to live and work in downtown Troy, and there is a feeling of pride for what our small businesses, the Troy Chamber and Troy Main Street, have created in the downtown community. I was a preschool teacher in my previous life, so I appreciate the creativity and flexibility that Pop-up gives.

We both see the importance of having businesses run and supported by humans of all ethnicities, ages, orientations, etc. It matters to us that everyone feels welcome in our community. Our business model reflects that anyone can own and operate a business!

Pricing:

• Private events, pop-up shops, satellite kitchen use, and corporate meetings are all priced individually. Contact us through our website’s ‘Book Now’ link or email us at info@popuptroy.com to receive specific pricing.

Contact Info:

• Website: poputroy.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/popupat4wmain
• Facebook: facebook.com;popuptroy
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/popup-4-w-main