A Springfield art house is transitioning from a brick-and-mortar store to become a pop-up shop.
DIM Art House has called 319 Chatham Road home since March 2022. The business would play host to touring exhibits and professional shops in Springfield.
The decision to become a pop-up shop came after the building they were renting was sold, according to DIM co-founder Christy Freeman Stark.
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“The building that we moved into had been on the market and for sale since we moved there,” Stark said. “But because of the state of the economy and the market for commercial properties we weren’t worried. It’s a really bad market to buy a building in – so we knew going into this place the potential to move again was there, but it just snuck up on us.”
Rather than closing the business for good, the owners decided to pivot to the pop-up shop. The pop-up shop model has become increasingly popular among businesses since the coronavirus pandemic as American commercial real estate has seen an 11% drop since March 2022 when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.
Springfield has a plethora of pop-up vendors who market with well-known destinations downtown, such as The Wakery or Ad Astra Wine Bar, to target customers with unique experiences with their products.
Stark assures DIM will still be around for community engagement events and partnering with local businesses, like the Animal Protective League, or APL.
“We’re pairing with the APL for an adoption event and right now,” Stark said. “Artists go to the APL website and pick out a muse of an animal and base an art piece of the animal that’s up for adoption and will be displayed next to the animal’s description (on the website).”
The other benefit of a pop-up shop is having more flexibility. DIM Art House still has options to open pop-up locations with other local businesses that have already reached out with interest in them being vendors.
Until the co-owners plan their next experience with the public, Stark said DIM is pivoting to follow a new path towards longevity in Springfield.
“We have discussed forming and getting our nonprofit status,” Stark said. “So that’s one of the things we’re going to focus on nailing down in the next couple of months. By getting the organization structure finalized and then moving forward to figure out what our actual mission statement looks like.”
The store will be holding a farewell of sorts Feb. 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Chatham Road location.
“It’s going to be ridiculous,” Stark said. “It’ll be like ‘name your price’ just bring a bag and we’ll fill it. We have so much.”
The gallery side of the business will have a live art show produced by Echo/Life, featuring local artist trio Yvette, Kristen and Don presenting different pieces and discussing the process of creation. The featuring of works for this gallery will be the theme ‘Waxing Moon Whimsicals’, ‘Slime Art’ with Kristyn Yocious and ‘Valkyrie Recover Art.’
More information can be found on the company’s website at dimarthouse.com.
