Versatile Space with Two Halls and Amenities.
about this space
This moderately sized commercial space features two expansive halls, each approximately 2,700 square feet, ideal for various functions. In addition to the halls, the layout includes two office spaces, a lounge area, a kitchen, a bar, and a ticket booth. The property provides ample parking and easy access. Equipped with essential amenities such as internet, air conditioning, a security system, and more, this space is well-suited for diverse needs.
the fwv take
Book this Gary address for a sample sale or a multi-day clearance activation, because two halls of roughly 2,700 sq ft each, already fitted with counters, fitting rooms, garment rails and a dedicated stock room, allow you to keep one room selling while the second absorbs restock, returns and processing so the customer journey never stalls.
What makes the building work operationally is the ticket booth sitting at the entrance alongside ample on-site parking, a combination that lets you meter admission in timed waves and hold a queue in vehicles rather than on the pavement, which matters on a basement floor plate with a fixed occupancy near 260 and no street-facing glazing to carry overflow visually.
Brands activating in this type of space consistently find it rewards regional streetwear, sneaker and resale labels, occasion and plus-size ready-to-wear, beauty and collegiate merch operations around the two to six year mark with a live local mailing list, while heritage maisons and daylight-dependent fine jewellery or archival tailoring should look elsewhere, since a windowless lower ground room in a secondary market will not carry that positioning and is better matched against spaces in New York.
In our experience the Chicago-metro calendar tightens around late spring and again from October through mid-December, when the sample sale and holiday market windows here go first, so allow six to eight weeks for a two-hall booking, verify elevator car dimensions before commissioning any fixture over eight feet, and factor Indiana alcohol permitting into your schedule early if you intend to use the bar, which we sequence through our activation service.
what's included
- Internet
- Air Conditioning
- Security System
- Stock Room
- Counters
- Fitting Rooms
- Garment Rack
- Lighting
- Furniture
- Sound & Video Equipment
- Electricity
- Heating
- Parking
- Elevator
- Kitchen
- Lounge
- Wifi
servizi aggiuntivi
rendi lo spazio tuo.
con i nostri servizi aggiuntivi lo spazio scelto è pronto ad aprire. dagli arredi al branding, dal personale al marketing, pensiamo a tutto noi.
how to book this space
- 01
Check the shell and the dates
Review the gallery, 251 sqm floor plan and amenities for Versatile Space with Two Halls and Amenities, then note the window you want in Gary. Fashion week dates book 6–10 weeks out.
- 02
Send the brief
Use the request panel on this page to send your dates, expected footfall and budget. The listed rate is a starting point at €524 per day.
- 03
Get availability and a quote
We confirm availability with the operator and come back within 24 hours with the all-in cost: rent, staffing, permits and fit-out for Gary.
- 04
Lock the contract
Sign the short-term licence, pay the deposit and we register any permit or signage paperwork the address needs.
- 05
Build and open
Fit-out, install and staff the pop-up. Our production team handles delivery, install and the strike at the end of the run in Gary.
activation ideas
Sample Sale
This is the strongest use of the building, because two halls of roughly 2,700 sq ft each plus a dedicated stock room let you keep one room selling while the second absorbs restock, returns and size sorting. In practice the counters, fitting rooms and garment rails handle the sell floor without requiring a fixture build, and the ticket booth meters entry in timed waves against the 260 occupancy. We usually place four to six floor staff per hall through retail staffing.
Multi-Brand Pop-Up Shop
A market-style temporary retail format works here because the two halls give you a natural split between vendor floor and transaction zone. Brands running multi-brand pop-up concepts in spaces like this typically place eight to fourteen vendor bays across the first hall and keep checkout, styling and bag drop in the second, so queues never cut through the shopping route. Installed counters take fixed tills, and we configure card and reporting through point of sale and payments.
SS/AW Seasonal Showroom
This functions well as a showroom rental for a regional market period, mainly because garment racks, fitting rooms and controlled lighting are already installed across a 251 sqm hall. Merchandise the full season on rails in the main hall, hold overflow and packing in the stock room, and use the lounge as a waiting area. Air conditioning and the security system support leaving samples in place across a multi-week run, with terms available from one day to 168.
Buyer Appointments
What makes this work for wholesale appointments specifically is the two private offices, which most venues of this footprint do not offer. Run two buyers concurrently behind closed doors while an assistant pulls samples from the adjacent hall, with the kitchen covering coffee and lunch service. On-site parking suits regional buyers driving in from the Chicago metro. Be realistic on scale: this supports six to ten appointments a day comfortably, not an international market calendar.
Product Launch
A launch works here because sound and video equipment, installed lighting and a licensed bar are already in the building, so your spend goes into set and staging rather than base infrastructure. Use the first hall for the reveal moment and seated or standing audience, the second for product trial and purchase, and the ticket booth for guest list check-in. Budget staging and seating against the 260 ceiling, and start Indiana alcohol permitting early if the bar is in the plan.
Press Day / Media Preview
This is workable as a press day venue for regional editors, stylists and local broadcast, with the lounge and kitchen giving you a hospitality zone that does not eat into the collection display. Rail the collection in one hall, keep the second dark for shot-list photography, and use an office for one-to-one interviews. The honest constraint is reach: with no glazing and no walk-by audience, attendance depends entirely on your own invite list and press relationships.
Influencer Event
Creator events run well here because the second hall can be blacked out and set-dressed as a content backdrop while the first stays live for product, bar and hospitality. Plan for 60 to 120 guests rather than filling to 260, since content capture needs floor space around each set. Parking removes the arrival friction that kills attendance in this market. We handle talent booking, briefs and deliverable tracking through influencer marketing.
E-commerce and Content Day
The absence of natural light is an advantage for e-commerce shoots, because a windowless basement gives you full control with no daylight shift across a ten hour day. Set two or three simultaneous stations across 2,700 sq ft, use the fitting rooms and garment rails for wardrobe, and the office as a changing or client room. Confirm elevator car dimensions before commissioning any backdrop or cyc over eight feet, as basement load-in runs through the lift.
Art Exhibition or Gallery Showing
Gallery use holds up here because the halls are neutral and functional, and the installed lighting plus complete environmental control let you light work precisely rather than fight window glare. One hall carries the hang while the second handles talks, editions sales or a bar reception, and the ticket booth manages paid or timed entry. Air conditioning and heating protect works across a longer run, and the security system covers overnight periods between open days.
use cases
location
getting here & street life
nearest transit
- 11th Avenue & Chasebus146 m · 2 min
frequently asked
Yes, this Gary venue is available for pop-up shops and is one of the more practical temporary retail options in Northwest Indiana. Each of the two halls runs approximately 2,700 sq ft, and the existing counters, fitting rooms, garment racks and stock room mean you can open a sell floor without building retail infrastructure from scratch. Brands running this format here typically use one hall as the shop floor and the second for checkout, styling or vendor overflow, with the ticket booth at the entrance controlling entry. The minimum booking is one day and the maximum is 168 days, so you can book by the day for a weekend drop or run a full seasonal residency.
who it suits
Brand Scale
This space fits regional and Midwest-based brands with a 3 to 15 person team, 2 to 6 years of trading, and a customer base concentrated across the Chicago metro and Northwest Indiana. The two halls at roughly 2,700 sq ft each, plus two offices, a lounge, a kitchen, a bar and a ticket booth, give a small operating team enough back-of-house to run a multi-day event without hiring a full production crew. Ample parking and a two-minute walk to the 11th Avenue and Chase bus stop mean you are drawing a drive-in audience rather than a footfall audience, which suits brands that already sell to a known local list. Where we see mismatches is when a global luxury house books a basement-level venue in a secondary market expecting press pickup, or when a solo designer with a 30-piece capsule takes both halls and cannot fill them. If you need international editor and buyer traffic during market week, look instead at spaces in New York.
Aesthetic Fit
Brands with a bold, community-facing, high-energy visual identity work best here: streetwear, sneaker and resale culture, gospel and church-adjacent occasion wear, HBCU and collegiate merch, plus size ready-to-wear, hair and beauty, and independent labels that build around events rather than editorial. The halls are open, functional and neutral rather than architecturally expressive, so the room takes on whatever you install in it, which is why vinyl, modular staging, printed backdrops and heavy lighting rigs read well. Existing counters, fitting rooms, garment racks and furniture reduce your build spend considerably. What does not work is quiet minimalism or heritage luxury that depends on daylight, ceiling height, period detail or street-facing windows. A basement floor plate with air conditioning and controlled lighting will not deliver the natural light a fine jewellery or archival tailoring brand needs, and no amount of branded store design will manufacture a Marais or Mayfair atmosphere in this building.
Best Use Cases
First choice is a sample sale or clearance retail activation, because two 2,700 sq ft halls, a stock room, counters, fitting rooms and garment racks let you split sell-floor from processing while parking absorbs a queue-heavy crowd. Second is a multi-brand pop-up shop or market-style temporary retail space, where one hall hosts vendors and the second handles checkout, styling and lounge overflow with the ticket booth managing entry. Third is a runway or brand presentation event, given the occupancy estimate near 260, existing sound and video equipment, lighting and a bar for post-show reception. Fourth is a showroom rental for wholesale appointments and collection preview, using the two offices for private buyer meetings while samples stay merchandised in the main hall. Fifth is a press day or influencer event, with the lounge and kitchen supporting hospitality. Sixth is a content studio booking, since the second hall can be blacked out and set-dressed while the first stays live. Seventh is art exhibition and gallery showings, and eighth is corporate and private hire, both well served by the same amenities and flexible one to 168 day terms.
Budget Signal
This sits at the accessible end of the US market and represents strong value per square foot, particularly for a fully amenitied venue rather than a bare shell. Brands at this stage typically find that comparable square footage in prime Chicago retail corridors costs several multiples of this, before you add the fixtures, sound system, furniture and fitting rooms that are already installed here. Against a hotel ballroom you save on mandatory food and beverage minimums and gain a full day of build access. Against a co-working event room you get a genuine retail footprint with a stock room and back-of-house instead of a repurposed meeting space. Against a shared pop-up format you get exclusive use, your own entry control and no neighbouring brand competing for attention. Model your fit-out and staffing against expected revenue using our ROI estimator before committing to a longer run.
- brand passportpersonalised recs from your homepage
- roi estimatorfootfall & revenue for this space
- budget calcrent · fit-out · staffing · press
free · no credit card · unlocks personalised recommendations