Turning the shopping street's empty spaces into a place to take on challenges
At Kagaya Shopping Street, online shopping and rising prices have made retail harder, and unused space has appeared inside existing shops. Meanwhile, many local homemakers and young people say, "I'd like to sell sweets or coffee," or "I'd like to do something that connects me with the community." The hurdles of startup costs and shop contracts stop them from taking that first step.
SAINEN Shopping Street is an experiment to connect both. We borrow spare space in existing shops and hold "co-existing pop-ups," where vendors can open with zero startup cost.
What we are doing (fiscal 2026)
- Co-existing pop-ups: Twice, at Halloween (October 30 and 31) and Christmas (December 11 and 12), food, goods, and cafe vendors set up inside existing shops.
- Exchange workshops: Vendors become instructors and hold workshops open to everyone from children to adults.
- Information sessions on using vacant lots and recruiting vendors: Together we also think about how to use empty space outside the shops, such as for food trucks.
- Sharing the process: We share how the pop-ups come together on the shopping street's official Instagram.
This project is carried out by the five shopping streets of Kagaya, centered on the Kagaya Commerce Cooperative, after being selected for Osaka Prefecture's "Shopping Street Model Creation and Promotion Project." Good Luck handles planning, operation, and communications.
