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2026 Square Peg Holiday Pop-Up Shop application form

This November Square Peg, located at 220 King Street, is getting a glow up and being transformed into a holiday pop-up shop showcasing local emerging retailers in our community.  Each week the retailers will change, making it a rotating experience.  This is an open opportunity for retailers to be part of the shop and test their concept in one of the busiest retail locations in Kitchener, 
Downtown Kitchener is the heart of the city, this is never truer than during the winter when Carl Zehr Square comes alive with holiday decorations, skating, people and the Christkindl market. Our pop-up shop is an opportunity for retailers to capitalize on this energy and traffic and truly feel what it is like to be a brick-and-mortar business in a commercial core. 
Each participating business along with 7 others will active a nook of the space into their mini retail destination. 
By applying you agree to the following:
  • Each business is required to be on site for a minimum of 35 hours per week
  • Each Business is responsible for their POS systems and method of payment.
    • While Wi-Fi is available, due to the sheer volume of businesses and guests, the connection may become unreliable. It is recommended that businesses have a backup plan or be prepared to hotspot their POS system
  • Although the city will be developing some marketing materials and promoting the pop-up on social media, it is primarily the businesses' responsibility to attract their customer base as though they were operating out of their own brick-and-mortar storefront.
  • Participants will be required to activate and stock their allotted area using a mixture of provided and self-supplied merchandising assets
  • Parking downtown will be the responsibility of the participants and is not included in the space rental fee.
  • All participants will be required to provide their own insurance covering 2 million in liability and have the City of Kitchener listed as an additional insured party.
For any questions or concerns feel free to reach out to the downtown development team at Downtown@kitchener.ca.

 

Notice of collection

Personal information is being collected under the authority of s.11(1) of the Municipal Act and in accordance with s. 28(2) of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) and will be used for booking and retained for further outreach for future events, and may be shared with other Economic Development teams within the City of Kitchener. This information will be shared with staff who require it for their work as part of their work at the City of Kitchener and will be stored on a server owned by a Third Party Service Provider (GHD Group) located in Canada. The personal information collected herein will be used only for the purposes relating to the program and will be protected in accordance with the requirements stipulated in the MFIPPA.

Inquiries about the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information should be directed to Admed Mirza at Ahmed.Mirza@kitchener.ca or 519-783-8280.

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Are you, the owner of the business, legally permitted to work in Canada?
 
Have you participated in a program hosted by the Square Peg before?
 
Have you participated in any of the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre programs before? (starter company / early sparks)
 
How did you hear about the Holiday Pop-Up?
 
Do you agree to the commitment of 5 days a week from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-6pm, or as otherwise listed?
 
Select your top 4 weeks of operation. You may only be selected for a single week depending on demand:
 


Land acknowledgement

The City of Kitchener is situated on the traditional territory of the Chonnonton, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. We recognize our responsibility to act as stewards for the land and honour the original caretakers who came before us. Our community is enriched by the enduring knowledge and deep-rooted traditions of the diverse First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples who live in Kitchener today.