MadeInLes
The Community Incubator
We love working with neighborhood organizations that offer creative and collaborative opportunities for the community to come together. And we are thrilled when they do so by aligning the incentives of all the stakeholders, whether individuals, community organizations or local businesses. MadeInLES checks off all these boxes. By allowing local residents to fill underused storefronts with classes, events and workspaces, miLES have found a new way of aligning local business interests with that of the broader community and create vibrant small communal hubs for the neighborhood to come together. A great example to learn from.
Imagine a shape-shifting storefront, one space, many possibilities: from an independent arts space one week to designer fashion boutique the next; from cooking classroom on Thursday to locavore snack bar on Friday.
The miLES Storefront Transformer is a versatile set of furnishing and amenities to program any storefront — essentially a 6ft cube that can be easily transported and subdivided to roll through any storefront door. When unfolded, the Transformer provides functional elements such as shelving, partitions, tables, seats, stage, as well as infrastructure such as lighting, WIFI, power strips, speakers, projectors, and PA system so you have all the basic ingredients to create your own pop-up!
With your support we will prototype and demonstrate a miLES Storefront Transformer in action this November and December. We will transform a vacant storefront in the Lower East Side to incubate 7 pop-up ideas. The storefront transformer will continue to operate throughout next year to incubate more pop-up ideas by you and everyone!
We are proud to be working with Eric and the miLES team, and we encourage all to join us in supporting their incredible community project. You can find miLES Kickstarter Party and other events on Commune and follow them here.
