Flea Markets
... put the bottom rungs on the ladder.
Any town with a big unused parking lot can host a fleamarket. If your area is prone to inclement weather, consider the shell of a shut-down box store or a failing mall. Fairgrounds are another option. I've seen fleamarkets hosted in ... I dunno what to call it, they're giant empty barnlike buildings that host all different kinds of events, but those cost more. A parking lot is dirt cheap.
You want to boost your local economy, find some underused slab of land and throw a fleamarket. Now if you want to get really clever, make the parking lot free. No fees, no amenities, what you see is what you get; it's all up to vendors to bring things of value there. Now add an indoor venue with a roof, lights, heating, and toilets. See above re: malls, former box stores, etc. This venue costs money to use. You want to take at least one big section, like an empty anchor slot, and break it up into lots of little stalls that most people could afford. Then make sure you have some small spaces such as kiosks, and storefronts of various sizes, that people can move up to if their business outgrows the stall. If they outgrow the whole facility, that's fine, your town probably has bigger storefronts elsewhere or perhaps they'd like to build something new. Congratulations, you now have a whole ladder for growing new businesses.
Any town with a big unused parking lot can host a fleamarket. If your area is prone to inclement weather, consider the shell of a shut-down box store or a failing mall. Fairgrounds are another option. I've seen fleamarkets hosted in ... I dunno what to call it, they're giant empty barnlike buildings that host all different kinds of events, but those cost more. A parking lot is dirt cheap.
You want to boost your local economy, find some underused slab of land and throw a fleamarket. Now if you want to get really clever, make the parking lot free. No fees, no amenities, what you see is what you get; it's all up to vendors to bring things of value there. Now add an indoor venue with a roof, lights, heating, and toilets. See above re: malls, former box stores, etc. This venue costs money to use. You want to take at least one big section, like an empty anchor slot, and break it up into lots of little stalls that most people could afford. Then make sure you have some small spaces such as kiosks, and storefronts of various sizes, that people can move up to if their business outgrows the stall. If they outgrow the whole facility, that's fine, your town probably has bigger storefronts elsewhere or perhaps they'd like to build something new. Congratulations, you now have a whole ladder for growing new businesses.