Moorhead Center Mall Inspire Lab Pops Up

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Moorhead Center Mall is using a creative way to bring new businesses to the mall.

Pop–up stores are giving new businesses a chance to get their feet wet, with no long term contracts.

Carrie Leopold was a college professor who loved teaching and dreamt of sharing her passion on a larger scale.

Leopold says, “I made the leap, left my job and opened the center and now I can serve a broader area of kids.”

She took her Inspire Lab idea to the Moorhead Center Mall offering services to students, teachers and the community.

She adds, “The Inspire Lab is a STEM non–profit organization education center so we focus on science, technology, engineering and math as well as art and entrepreneurship.”

The pop–up store option gave Carrie a chance to try out her concept at no risk giving children a place to be imaginative and to help with the mall’s growth.

Leopold says, “The pop–up concept is really nice because it is not a long–term commitment for people who really want to try their business out without signing a long–term lease scared of going under.”

Mall General Manager Melissa Rademacher says, “We can build the mall together. They can build their business. I can build traffic. Hopefully it’s a win–win.”

With Inspire Lab doing so well and in looking for new opportunities within the mall, Nerd Nook was opened.

Rademacher adds, “The Nerd Nook which is a retail part of their business that sells anything that’s nerdy that’s product base.”

The Nerd Nook sells STEM based toys that keep to a store motto.

Leopold says, “Toys are toys and nerds are nerds…so everything is gender friendly. Nothing is for girls or boys. Everything in here is for both.”

Since opening the Inspire Lab and Nerd Nook, Carrie has seen her businesses grow from just a dream to a reality.

She remarks, “It’s awesome. It’s busy. It’s ever changing. It’s everything I hoped it would be so far.”

If you are interested in opening a pop–up store, contact the Moorhead Center Mall for more information.