SALT LAKE CITY — Like most shopping centers during the pandemic, The Gateway, located in downtown Salt Lake City has seen some businesses close. But new and old business owners are looking ahead with hope as the shopping center adds new events that attract customers.
The goal has been to not only help existing businesses stay open, but bring in new concepts as well, the Marketing Director for the Gateway, Jacklyn Briggs, said.
The group has focused on pivoting an offering safe outdoor events such a goat yoga, the winters farmers market, arts and crafts fairs and more.
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In 2016, Vestar Corporation bought the Gateway with the promise to revitalize the shopping center. It has been the groups mission ever since, Briggs said.
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New bars and restaurants will be opening in the shopping center as well as the popular gym concept TruFusion. The MegaPlex Theatre at the Gateway will be closing for a luxury theater remodel, Briggs said.
While all the business owners are working to find success during the pandemic, they are also looking ahead.
“The population growth and people moving into the area has not slowed down,” Briggs said.
Last week, the Utah Art Alliance opened a new, larger space for their popular Dreamscapes attraction. The non-profit group feels that a new larger space could bring success to help support even more local artists, Kim Angeli with Utah Arts Alliance, said.
“We really understood that we had a product that was strong and that we could only improve upon,” she said.
Dreamscapes offers artists an opportunity for paid work during the pandemic, Angeli said. The exhibit is changes often, so this will offer work for a long time to come.
“Having a project like this where they can collaborate and get together and get paid is incredible,” Angeli reflected.
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While the pandemic has taken a toll, the CEO & Founder of Kiln, which offers a tech and lifestyle focused co-working space, said they have seen steady growth in the past six months. This is allowing the company to expand to more locations, Arian Lewis said.
The company allows small businesses and individuals to buy a membership for a flex-office space.
“A lot of us still want to have in-person teamwork happening. So, 76 percent of a recent survey indicated that they want to come back to the workplace,” he said.
Having a location at the gateway works well for the millennial driven, upscale tech-campus style environment of Kiln, Lewis said.
“I think the Gateway is being reborn at the moment. It’s becoming a destination for lifestyle, amenities,” he said.
The amenities the Gateway offers now and continues to work to bring in will hopefully create success for the future, Briggs said.
“Future planning knowing this area is going to have these amazing residential units all surrounding it and these new amenities that can help with those residents,” she said.
