IT MAY HAVE BEEN vastly overshadowed in news accounts by last week’s World Cup event, but for a small group of San Jose retailers, the big news was the Grand Re-opening of their three shops known as Moment San Pedro.
The shops on the San Pedro Street pedestrian walkway had been closed for about a year while the city-owned garage they occupy underwent renovations, including a new paint job, in preparation for an LED art installation to be mounted on its facade.
Moment business development director Audrey Yeung said the San Pedro location was the organization’s first artist pop-up in 2018, and that it’s good to be back open in time for the World Cup festivities. The three shops are right beside the artificial lawn-covered San Pedro pedestrian walkway, where the city has installed large temporary screens so residents can watch the games.
“We’ve seen the changes, from pre-pandemic to post-lockdown, so we’re just happy to have the space again,” Yeung said. “We’ll stay open for as long as we possibly can.”
The construction isn’t completely finished — the colorful metal bars and LED components haven’t been installed yet — with final completion set for August 2027, according to the city’s project website. Yeung said the city greenlit the reopening for at least six months, but the construction timeline is still fluid, so it’s possible the shops will have to close again in the future.
The pop-up shops feature new and returning businesses, including Yours Truly, Mary Anne, a mental wellness-focused stationery shop which was previously open in the same San Pedro location for about three months in 2025 before shuttering for construction. Mary Anne Batayola, the business’ owner and designer, said she’s excited to have another opportunity in the space. The previous three months was her first time having a brick and mortar location, and she said she learned many lessons about capacity and feasibility that she hopes to build on now that she’s back.
“When can you say you have two chances at something in the same space, to take all that you’ve learned that first time and implement it this time around,” Batayola said. “It’s kinda crazy to me, I’m very grateful for that.”
Another pop-up is Sueños, a Latina-owned artisan collective store that was previously at Moment’s Paseo de San Antonio location near San Jose State University for almost two years. Sandra Contreras, co-owner of Sueños and owner of Cositas Contreras, said their previous location gave them the opportunity to reach a broader audience and build a following, and that it’s exciting to be in San Pedro, which is a busier location.
Some of those fans have followed Sueños to their new location. San Jose resident Naomi Cortez said she visited San Pedro Square for the shop’s grand opening, as she’s been a fan of their variety of handmade crafts for a few years.
“I was dining at the Fab a couple years ago on the Paseo, and this store was right next to it, and I immediately fell in love,” Cortez said. “I’m a big fan of the festivals, the art and wine festivals, for the booths that you won’t see every day.”
Expanding pop-ups
San Jose District 3 City Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, whose district covers all of San Jose’s three Moment pop-up locations, said he’s excited and encouraged by the program’s expansions. He said he often hears questions about retail vacancies, so the pop-up strategy presented by Moment helps to revitalize parts of the city that would otherwise be empty.
“It’s been a great way to move quickly into a space that’s maybe been struggling with retail vacancies and reactivate the area,” Tordillos said.
Nate LeBlanc, business development manager at the San Jose Downtown Association, echoed that sentiment. He said the recently-closed Moment pop-up shops at Paseo de San Antonio generated so much foot traffic that it helped one location finalize a new long-term retail tenant.
Retail vacancies have been a lasting problem since 2020 across the entire Bay Area and revitalization strategies have been causing many to focus on growing entertainment and engagement spaces rather than relying on office workers. Other cities have even begun pursuing pop-up strategies, such as San Francisco’s “Vacant to Vibrant” program.
For the pop-up shop owners, a long-term lease and bigger space is the ultimate goal as well. The third retailer is Farts and Crafts Club, a collective of San Jose local artists founded by Wren, owner of Petty Party. This is the first time they’ve had a brick and mortar location, but they hope to one day open a permanent storefront alongside a makerspace for budding creators.
“When I started the online community, it really felt like something was missing for me in San Jose because I know there’s so many artists here,” Wren said. “It feels like a great place to connect and help people.”
During the pop-up shops’ grand reopening, LeBlanc looked over the dozens of people sitting on San Pedro Street’s artificial lawn to watch Canada play Bosnia and Herzegovina, and noted how the downtown’s identity has changed. What used to be considered a slow neighborhood, “suburban and sprawling,” was growing into a vibrant entertainment district.
“Many hundreds of people have been working on this for years. When you’re in the middle of it, it’s hard to see progress,” LeBlanc said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to see all this stuff, all these slow iterative processes finally show some fruition, and for us to see more people down here having fun.”