Calling all kiosks: Downtown Denver Partnership seeks summer vendors

For those interested in operating one of the kiosks gracing the midst of the 16th Street Mall, now's your chance. The Downtown Denver Partnership is holding a "Marketplace on the Mall" informational meeting March 18 from 6 to 7 p.m. about applying as a vendor for the summer 2014 season.

The marketplace program is managed by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District (BID) and is focused largely on three types of vendors: food vending; merchandisers and retail sales and experiential vendors. The latter category is the broadest and includes caricatures, portraits, henna tattoos, face painting, flowers and other entertainment vendors.

The overarching theme of the session will be on food vending, but the session will also discuss the long-term vision for vending on the mall and will discuss other options as well, particularly related to increasing the experiential opportunities on the mall.

"We want to create more fun on the mall, more a-ha moments," explains Downtown Denver Partnership 16th Street Marketplace Manager Cord Rauba. "We talk all the time about how do we support creative talent downtown? How do we make them want to be here?"

The current fee schedule will be discussed at the session -- and prices won't be rising, Rauba says. "We are looking to make the fee schedule for artists more flexible," she adds.

Overall, between 20 and 40 vendors operate on the 16th Street Mall throughout the year and the BID is looking for more. "The goal is to continue to add more quality, unique and diverse local businesses to the mix," according to the BID's informational materials. "While numerous opportunities exist, strong efforts are taken not to duplicate uses and product."

"We will be doing some new stuff with the vendors, like clustering them in groups on the mall," says Downtown Denver Partnership spokesperson Jenny Starkey. "There are obviously vendors all along the mall, but we're looking at innovative strategies to bring more people to the mall."

Merchandisers must use Retail Merchandising Units (RMUs) provided by the BID. In all, there are eight units to rent out and vendors must be between Welton Street and California Street. They can operate between 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday to Saturday from May through October. In addition to the retail units, however, BID owns four enclosed kiosks, one of which is an information center, while vendors can apply to use the others.

To get a better idea of what is currently on the mall check out the current food vending and retail map. To learn more about the vendor meeting on March 18, email info@downtowndenver.com.