San Francisco fills vacant storefronts with new business NBC Bay Area [Video]

San Francisco’s “Vacant to Vibrant” economic development program is filling large vacant spaces around Union Square with smaller pop-up shops and offering them a year to operate rent free.

Taylor Jay, an Oakland-based fashion brand, is slated to open its doors in Union Square on Saturday.

“I’m so excited,” Jay said.

Jay’s new store, on the corner of O’Farrell and Powell streets, is the first of up to six pop-up stores coming to the area over the next few months.

“Union Square, the Powell Street corridor in particular has a ton of vacancies on it, but there’s also a lot of foot traffic,” SF New Deal Executive Director Simon Bertrang said.

SF New Deal brought 17 pop-ups to fill empty parts of downtown San Francisco, offering them small grants, technical support and three months of free retail space with the possibility to stay longer.

Taylor Jay is the program’s entry into Union Square, where the …