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Outside Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Shore. The main stage for the NFL Draft will be located outside the stadium. The draft is scheduled for April 23-25. Erin Yudt\/Pittsburgh Media Partnership<\/p>\n
\n Efforts to keep businesses beyond the three-day event\n <\/p>\n
Downtown Pittsburgh\u2019s Golden Triangle has nearly 50 empty storefronts \u2014 just as the NFL Draft is set to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors. A local nonprofit is racing to fill dozens of those spaces before April.<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is always working to fill vacant retail spaces, but the draft brings more urgency to those efforts, said Cate Irvin, senior director of economic development. The group revived a \u201cpop-up\u201d program in which businesses access retail space \u2014 pending an agreement from the property owner \u2014 for six to 12 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis gives businesses a chance to test the waters and see if they want to commit to a longer-term lease. We\u2019re looking specifically at kind of a retail classification and within that is included, restaurant retail, traditional retail and services like salons,\u201d Irvin said. \u201cWe do have a requirement now for our pop-ups that they all need to be up and running by April.\u201d<\/p>\n
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An art display outside a former retail store at the corner of Smithfield Street and Forbes Avenue. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is working to create more displays in other empty spaces throughout the Golden Triangle ahead of the NFL Draft in April. Erin Yudt\/Pittsburgh Media Partnership<\/p>\n
One of those pop-ups opened last month: Confleurtti, a flower shop just outside Market Square.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last (downtown floral shop) closed in 2021 \u2026 so when they applied for Project Pop-Up, it was fantastic,\u201d Irvin said. \u201cWe\u2019re not looking to just put businesses in that\u2019ll do well for three days. We want businesses that\u2019ll do well for three to 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Confleurtti owner Ashleigh Nixon opened her business in 2020, hosting pop-up floral arrangement classes. When she heard the draft was coming to town, she said it was a good opportunity to try opening a physical store.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have (the store) for six months, which will go to the very first day in June, but it\u2019s still an opportunity to do all I can,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cIf it is successful, then I could extend the lease at market rate \u2026 there\u2019s been some deals and discounts available to me that have been very needed and helpful that may have not been there (before the draft announcement).\u201d<\/p>\n
While Nixon is not an official NFL vendor, she plans to prepare Steelers- and Pittsburgh-related floral arrangements for the big event in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might do some team leis for parents and families and maybe even players to wear,\u201d Nixon said. \u201cI have something up my sleeve for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The NFL Draft countdown clock on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Shore on Jan. 6. The draft is scheduled for April 23-25. The main stage will be located outside Acrisure Stadium, with additional events on the North Shore and at Point State Park. Erin Yudt\/Pittsburgh Media Partnership<\/p>\n
One way the partnership is working to keep businesses downtown after the draft is through a rent abatement program, offering rent subsidies for the first year of the lease. In 2025, eight new businesses opened through the program, contributing to 19 overall total new street-level retail openings. The rent abatement program offers half off the monthly rent, up to $2,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we\u2019ve actually had to close our applications until the third quarter of 2026 just because we had so many,\u201d Irvin said. \u201cCome spring, there\u2019ll be another wave of openings \u2026 which is perfect in time with the draft, giving visitors a chance to see what all we have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the empty storefronts require construction to be retail ready. For those, the partnership plans to install window displays featuring locally made art, Irvin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on curating some artistic window, like vinyl wraps, that can go on the sides of the building,\u201d Irvin said. \u201cIt kind of still creates a visual identity and sort of aesthetic, while highlighting local, emerging artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irvin said the Partnership hopes to fill 20 to 30 retail storefronts in time for the draft, which is scheduled for April 23-25. It is expected to generate $120 million to $213 million in economic impact, based on prior draft numbers. The main stage will be located outside of Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore. Other events will be spread throughout the North Shore and at Point State Park.<\/p>\n
VisitPittsburgh, the tourism agency leading draft preparation, estimates a crowd of 500,000 to 700,000 fans.<\/p>\n
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NFL officials and businesses selected to participate in the Draft Source Program met at Community College of Allegheny County\u2019s Forester Student Services Center on Dec. 9. About 100 area businesses were selected for the program. Erin Yudt\/Pittsburgh Media Partnership<\/p>\n
Last December, planning officials with the NFL visited the region and gathered local businesses to meet with subcontractors in hopes of securing a contract to become an official vendor for the draft. These businesses underwent months of NFL-led training to be a part of the NFL Draft Source Program.<\/p>\n
There are about 100 active businesses in the program that were selected out of several hundred applicants, Draft Source lead Myisha Boyce said.<\/p>\n
NFL Senior Director of Club Leadership, Development and Inclusion Belynda Gardner said last month officials will be back a \u201ccouple of more times\u201d leading up to the main event.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus will really be to make sure that everyone is aware of the plans for draft, the things that might be impeding the community, as well as really just making sure that the businesses have what they need to be able to be successful,\u201d Gardner said.<\/p>\n
Newly inaugurated Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O\u2019Connor told the city to \u201credd up\u201d for the draft earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know Pittsburgh\u2019s going to be in the international spotlight for the NFL Draft in April and that\u2019s brought a lot of energy, collaboration and momentum to Downtown,\u201d O\u2019Connor said in a statement to the Pittsburgh Media Partnership Newsroom. \u201cMy administration is focused on the overall growth, including opportunities for our small businesses, so I say let\u2019s make the best of that energy to support existing efforts \u2014 like the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership\u2019s \u2014 to get local businesses into storefronts to build a vibrant Downtown not just for the draft, but for every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Abigail Hakas contributed to this report. <\/p>\n
Erin Yudt is a reporter with the Pittsburgh Media Partnership Newsroom, part of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. She most recently was a multimedia content producer and digital reporter at WKBN in Youngstown and is a graduate of Point Park University. Reach her at erin.yudt@pointpark.edu. <\/p>\n
Abigail Hakas was a staff reporter for the newsroom until September 2025. She is now managing editor of the Latrobe Bulletin. Reach her at editor@latrobebulletinnews.com. <\/p>\n
The PMP Newsroom is a regional news service that focuses on government and enterprise reporting in southwestern Pennsylvania. Find out more information on foundation and corporate funders at www.pghmediapartnership.org\/sponsors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Outside Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Shore. The main stage for the NFL Draft will be located outside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3035,3027,3022,3042,3048,3051,1610,3030,3028,31,3029,3034,3025,3047,3041,3024,3045,3033,3023,3036,182,3049,3039,139,3026,28,3040,73,75,74,39,3031,3044,3043,3032,3050,3038,3037,3046],"class_list":["post-95526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-bruin","tag-butler","tag-butler-eagle","tag-cabot","tag-callery","tag-cherry-valley","tag-community-news","tag-connoquenessing","tag-cranberry","tag-crime","tag-east-butler","tag-eau-claire","tag-education-news","tag-evans-city","tag-fairview","tag-government-news","tag-harmony","tag-harrisville","tag-high-school-sports-news","tag-karns-city","tag-local-news","tag-mars","tag-mount-chesnut","tag-news","tag-obituaries","tag-pennsylvania","tag-petrolia","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-political-news","tag-portersville","tag-sarver","tag-saxonburg","tag-slippery-rock","tag-valencia","tag-west-liberty","tag-west-sunbury","tag-zelienople"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}