VCU’s Shift Retail Lab will allow students to test products and ideas with consumers. It opens to the public in January. (Photo by Kevin Morley courtesy VCU University Relations)
Student entrepreneurs at Virginia Commonwealth University can showcase their ideas at the new Shift Retail Lab, operated by the VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation.
Current and former VCU students can gain insight and test their products and ideas in the real world at the 2,700-square-foot space at 1235 W. Broad St., across from the university’s Stuart C. Siegel Center.
Visitors to Shift will find everything from students’ early-stage ideas and prototypes to ready-for market products that are looking for public feedback. Students and alumni can also sell products at Shift. Current offerings include paintings, Bluetooth speakers, plant-based jerky and jewelry.
At Shift, customers play an active role in turning students’ ideas into products and services that are ready for the marketplace.
“While student founders will be able to sell their products in the Shift Retail Lab, the main goal is to provide them with a space to test and experiment,” says Garret Westlake, the da Vinci Center’s executive director, in a statement. “Customers of Shift will have the option to purchase available products as well as be encouraged to provide feedback on early-stage ideas to help founders turn their ideas into action.”
Community-based entrepreneurs will also be in residence at Shift, beginning with members of The Jackson Ward Collective, which connects Black-owned businesses in the Richmond area.
The Shift Retail Lab was unveiled in November during VCU’s homecoming week and will be open to the public in January. The space will be available for all students during the spring semester.
