The revolving pop-up events “DISPLAY Emeryville” return to the Public Market tonight with the first of three scheduled monthly installations. “Toys, Tech & Innovation” will show the connection of playfulness in us all while highlighting local tech and toy companies in the Bay Area. Pop-ups are a relatively new phenomenon meant to take advantage of vacant space while creatively promoting new businesses that may not be mature enough to sustain themselves. Their intentions are to open quickly and to trade for only a short period of time.

Vacant space is currently ample in the Public Market as they transition their roster of food offerings and pursue their broader “Lifestyle Center” vision. It’s unclear if the pending exodus of the Broken Rack Pool hall and planned removal of the Emery Bay 10 Theater are part of this vision … or a consequence of them.

For part of EPM’s attempt to reinvent itself, they turned to the Sac State husband/wife tandem of Roshaun & Maritza Davis. The Creative Planning Duo behind the event agency, Unseen Heroes. The now married with children “power-couple” met in college while attending Sac State, “we started hanging outside of school, and somewhere in between noticed that we couldn’t live without each other even when we tried”. Maritza stepped in to help manage Roshaun’s music career while he was part of the “Righteous Movement” Hip-Hop ensemble from 2002 – 2009. “We realized that together we had a perfect blend of creativity and planning, so we started Unseen Heroes.”

Andrea Lepore, the founder & creative director of E’ville favorite Hot Italian Pizza (and part-time Emeryville Warehouse Lofts resident) previously collaborated with Unseen Heroes through their Midtown Sacramento Restaurant. “They have a great ability to implement someone else’s vision or bring their own creative ideas to the table” mentioned Andrea through email. “As we got to know Roshaun and Maritza,” added Tim Bacon, VP of EPM owners’ City Center Realty Partners “we zeroed in on this idea that could be a catalyst to bring together creative forces from our local community and to capture the talent and innovation that’s happening in Emeryville.”

The events seem to be generating a buzz around the former PABCO paint factory (not to mention bringing in customers!). “They are tireless in their quest to achieve a perfect, fun experience and are also passionate about events, which is not an easy business!” added Lepore. “We have really seen a lot of interest from the local designers and artisans as well as the public” offered Roshaun over email “They thing we keep hearing from everyone is that Emeryville needs something like this in the city, and that is awesome to hear!”

These events will help sustain the Public Market during this transition, but ultimately they will have to “put their money where our mouths are” if they are to remain relevant in a more competitive bay area food landscape. The EPM is banking on new additions like the in-progress Peruvian stall “Chicharon” and teasing us with plans for much more. “The new architectural improvements planned for the coming years will definitely be a boost to us as well as additional like-minded restaurant and retail tenants that I’m confident broker David Fishbein will be able to attract.” added Lepore “With the location, access to free parking and transit oriented in a community surrounded by businesses and new residential, the EPM will grow as a destination for not only daytime traffic, but night-time as well!”

The marketplace redevelopment presentation can be viewed on the EPOA YouTube Channel:

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The first 20 people to show up to tonight’s event will receive a free swag bag with items from event partners including at $10 gift certificate to the Public Market Emeryville. Future planned installations include a “Festival Fashion” and “Art of Biking” Events.

The complete calendar of events can be seen on their DisplayEmeryville.com Website →