New opportunity for Columbus entrepreneurs launches at Highside Market. See more

Small business owners have a unique opportunity opening soon in Highside Market.

StartUP Columbus, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs grow new businesses in the Chattahoochee Valley, is launching its retail incubator, called retailLAB. RetailLAB will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Highside Market on Dec. 1 at 10 a.m.

A retail incubator is a low-risk environment where entrepreneurs can test out their business plans by selling their products or services in a supported environment. StartUP Columbus received a grant from the Knight Foundation to accomplish this project.

“We don’t make it easy to start a business, because it’s never easy,” Ben MacMinn, executive director of StartUP Columbus, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We try to make it a little bit easier.”

StartUP Columbus has had a retail incubator in its corporate office, at 1190 Front Ave, since 2020. MacMinn said the space was designed to help entrepreneurs with administrative tasks like printing and conferencing with clients.

“But one of the things we got asked a lot is, ‘Can we run parts of our business out of here?’” MacMinn said.

That gap is where retailLAB comes in to help.

“We’ve been working on this project since 2022-2023,” MacMinn said. “It was several years of ‘How do we create a space where entrepreneurs can come out and test selling their products?’ Right now in Columbus, you have Market Days and similar types of events, which are great and important, but then (after that) there is a big leap you have to make into brick-and-mortar.”

RetailLAB will house three small businesses in one shared space in Highside Market. Each business will sign a one-year lease with an option to extend for an additional year. Businesses in retailLAB will be responsible for their own marketing, products and services, and staffing.

The first three tenants in retailLAB have not been announced at the time of publication.

Ana McGraw, entrepreneur hub manager at StartUP Columbus, will oversee operations at retailLAB. McGraw told the Ledger-Enquirer that StartUP Columbus will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the businesses in retailLAB.

“The whole purpose of (retailLAB) is that we would like them to be responsible for their own space, for their own product, for their own customers,” McGraw said.

Being housed at Highside Market brings a lot of benefits to these businesses.

“There’s already a well-established brand here,” MacMinn said. “It is an incredibly beautiful space. There are already people in and out of here all the time. You’ve got food, you’ve got boutiques, you’ve got what’s that events here. This is already an active space, which is great because then our entrepreneurs can just be plopped in the middle.”

Chris Woodruff, real estate developer behind the creation of Highside Market, told the Ledger-Enquirer that retailLAB’s arrival represents his original goal with the space.

“One of my original desires for Highside Market at the very beginning was to become an incubator space, a place for smaller businesses to come in, establish themselves, and grow to matriculate out to a bigger location,” Woodruff said. “That, to me, is a testament to what an entrepreneur can do and what a developer can do, working together to create sustainable business and growth.

“... And, we’re further multiplying the density of opportunities and shopping experiences at Highside, so from a developer standpoint, it is an absolute win-win.”

Woodruff also described the unique visibility that Highside Market provides local entrepreneurs.

“With our 70 or our 80-plus events a year that we host, all walks of life come into Highside Market,” Woodruff said. “Add that to the fact that you’re at an apex of the intersection with 25,000 cars a day. From a visibility standpoint, you’re absolutely enhancing that…. There’s also the fact that we have over 1000 people a day come through Highside.”

Woodruff said the collaboration is a positive step for the future of Columbus.

“I personally am thrilled to be working with StartUP Columbus on this project and this opportunity,” Woodruff said. “I’m super excited about what Ben and his team have put together and look forward to the successes of new entrepreneurs expanding in Columbus through this program.”

Interested entrepreneurs can apply to be in retailLAB through StartUP Columbus’ website..