Mill Avenue might see more shoppers after a retail store contest that ended Friday.
The contest was for a local, small retail business that best fit Mill Avenue, and the winner will be decided in mid-July.
“The main idea is to get small businesses and local entrepreneurs to look at Downtown Tempe and get them interested in what we have available,” said Casaundra Brown, a spokeswoman for Downtown Tempe Community, Inc, which manages the Mill Avenue District.
Both Downtown Tempe Community and DMB Commercial Management are sponsoring the contest.
Contestants had to be independent businesses, not national chains, and have a complete business plan and funding in place.
The winning business will receive a year of free rent, a custom-built Web site from Synape Studios and the possibility of working with a small business consulting company, SCORE.
The spaces available are between Sixth and Seventh Street on Mill Avenue in the Centerpoint on Mill area.
“We actually have a few different spaces that the winning business can choose from,” Brown said.
She said the contest winner will be decided by a committee of staff members from DTC, DMB, the City of Tempe, a local retailer and maybe ASU.
“It’s one of the projects we’re working on to stimulate interest in Mill Avenue,” Brown said.
Reach the reporter at rheyanne.weaver@asu.edu
