Contest deadline expired: "Pop-up stores" competition
Test out your pop-up store concept for eleven months free of charge in a prime location in Bremen city centre!
The application period expired on 6 December 2021 at 12 pm.
We were looking for operating concepts for three retail spaces in prime locations, which are to be transformed into pop-up stores!
The search was on for concepts that ideally bring new, innovative retail ideas to Bremen city centre. Bremen is the eleventh-largest city in Germany with a metro area of around 2.7 million people.
We are looking preferably for retail ideas in combination with other uses such as special services, events and culture. The competition is aimed at prospective entrepreneurs, start-ups and creative and established suppliers from retail, services, crafts, art and culture, who do not yet have a location in the city centre.
The winners of the competition will be afforded the opportunity to make their business ideas a reality for eleven months (from 1 February 2022 to 31 December 2022), rent-free in the specified retail space. The stores are scheduled to open no later than 1 March 2022.
WFB will assist with public relations work and networking with local economic players.
The goal is to revive vacant spaces, improve the variety of offers and bring new concepts to the city centre.
All information about the competition can be found here.
Information about the application process can be found further down on this page.
What can I win?
- One retail space (see overview)
- Free of rental and ancillary fees (excluding electricity costs, business and product liability insurance)
- Grant for shop fitting / interior fittings 20,000.00 €
- Grant for personnel costs 40,000.00 €
- Free membership of CityInitiative Bremen e.V.
The following retail spaces are available (in “as is” condition):
Important note: One store space (Sögestraße, formerly space no. 1) has been withdrawn and is no longer available in the competition.
Retail space no. 1:
- Address: Katharinenklosterhof 5 (Laden 9)
- Usage allowed for: retail (no food service)
- Total area: 77 m², of which sales area (ground floor, retail) 45 m²
- Additional areas: storage in the basement and toilet 32 m²
- Miscellaneous: The space has been cleared. Standard lighting will be provided. No floor covering provided, no shop fitting provided
Retail space no. 2:
- Address: Knochenhauerstraße 41/42
- Usage allowed for: retail/ food service
- Total area: 250 m², of which sales area 151 m² (ground floor; included kitchen, toilet and storage) and 60 m ² (first floor)
- Additional areas: 39 m² storage (basement)
- Miscellaneous: Floor covering and lighting partly provided. Shop fitting provided in parts.
Retail space no 3:
- Address: LLOYD PASSAGE 4
- Usage allowed for: retail (no food service)
- Total area: 89 m², of which sales area 72 m² (ground floor)
- Additional Areas: toilets 17 m²
- Miscellaneous: Floor covering and lighting provided
Retail spaces will be allocated according to the order of winners and the preferred spaces specified by applicants in the participation form during the application process. The winner in first place will get the retail space of his/her choice; the winner in second place will get the retail space of his/her choice provided it is still available, otherwise he/she will get his/her second-choice retail space; the winner in third place will get the retail space of his/her choice, provided it is still available, otherwise he/she will get his/her second- or third-choice retail space.
How can I participate?
Please read the judging criteria carefully once again, observe our conditions of participation and then you can start with the application form.
Please open and save (right mouse-click / save as) the application-PDF in the Acrobat-Reader. Then you send us the filled out application form via e-mail (Subject: Competition "Pop-up-Stores) to the following e-mail address:
Or you send us your application by post:
WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH
Frau Take und Frau Göppert
Competition "Pop-up-Stores"
Bürgermeister-Smidt-Straße 101
28195 Bremen
The competition will run from 28 October 2021 (12 p.m.) until 6 December 2021 (12 p.m.). The retail spaces will be available from 1 February 2022 (The first month is planned for renovation work. If possible, the store should open on 1 March).
Judging criteria:
- Concept coherence
(Do the individual components of the concept fit well together and consistently complement each other?) - Level of innovation
(What innovative ideas does the concept include with regard to the products, business model, services and digitalisation, for example?) - Number of customers
(Why is the concept submitted likely to attract a high number of customers? E.g. due to product variety, trendy products or services) - Suitability for the city centre
(Why is the city centre a good location for the concept? Will it appeal to existing target groups as well as customers, locals and visitors to the city?) - Variety of uses
(Besides conventional sales, what else will take place in the space in terms of advice, events and culture, for example?) - Unique selling point
(What makes the concept unique and does it stand out from existing offers in the city centre?) - Economic sustainability of the concept
(Has the concept been designed to be viable beyond the eleven months in the market economy? Can it be continued in the city centre or in another location?) - Environmental sustainability of the concept
(Will there be fair, regional or seasonal products, for example? Are products or processes produced or designed in a way that conserves resources?)
Assessing the criteria in equal parts by an expert jury following the German school grading system, with marks from one to six
Aktionsprogramm Innenstadt (“The City Centre Action Programme”) was launched at the end of September. It is designed to increase the quality of a stay in the city, enhance its range of uses and improve accessibility.
The “pop-up stores” initiative is one of the projects taking place under this programme. WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen GmbH (WFB) has set up the project focusing on the flexible use of vacant spaces in the city centre, among other things.
A pop-up store is a retail business which is operated at short notice, provisionally and for a defined period in empty business premises by one or more traders.
If you have any questions about the competition, please feel free to contact us:
Karin Take
Unternehmensservice und Standortentwicklung
Projektleiterin Unternehmensbetreuung Bremen Mitte
+49 (0) 421 9600-221
Anna Göppert
Akquisition und Projekte
Projektleiterin Innenstadt-Projekte
+49 (0) 421 9600-515
More on this in our privacy policy.
Sucess Stories
No can do? No such thing! GERADTS GMBH makes the things other companies can’t even imagine. This is why this engineering firm is so firmly rooted in major European aviation and aerospace projects, and also in a myriad of other sectors.
Learn moreA look at the statistics on Bremen's economy in 2024 reveals: Germany's smallest federal state has a lot to offer. An overview of the industrial and service sectors with the most important current figures.
Learn moreThe Bremeninvest office opened its doors in Shanghai two decades ago. As the international brand of the WFB, Bremeninvest had set itself the goals of reinforcing the economic links between Bremen and China and inspiring Chinese businesses to consider relocating to Bremen. Since then, more than 150 companies have set up premises in the Hanseatic city.
Learn more