Bringing Local Entrepreneurship to the Medford Hillside

The storefront at 348 Boston Avenue in Medford is now the host to small locally owned businesses that are experimenting for the first time with brick-and-mortar retail.

The new enterprise comes through a partnership between Tufts and the City of Medford, according to Rocco DiRico, associate vice president of government and community relations at Tufts. "Everything lined up: the city had funding to support small businesses and a vacant space opened up on Boston Avenue."

As a member of the Medford Chamber of Commerce board, DiRico had seen the city successfully run a pop-up venture in Medford Square in 2025. That effort filled an otherwise empty storefront, drew new customers to the area, and provided exposure for three locally owned small businesses. All of that offered proof, DiRico says, that the model could deliver wins for everyone involved.

So, when officials secured state funding to continue the program, DiRico suggested the newly empty Boston Avenue site location (formerly the site of Gnomon Copy). Tufts owns the site through Walnut Hill Properties, the university's nonprofit real estate arm.

DiRico says the opportunity was about more than repeating a proven model; it was also about reinforcing Tufts' ties to Medford.

"A project like this blurs the line between campus and community in the best way," he says. "It allows local businesses to thrive while giving our students and neighbors something new."

Walnut Hill usually manages residential properties rented to faculty, staff, and graduate students, along with a handful of commercial storefronts on Boston Avenue. Because it already oversees a diverse portfolio of properties, the group could step in quickly as landlord for the pop-up, offering the kind of support and flexibility that a short-term retail experiment requires.

"From the city's perspective, having a Tufts entity manage the property meant they weren't dealing with an unknown landlord," says DiRico. "We already had the property management structure in place, and we could move quickly to make the space available."

City officials share that enthusiasm. "The first round of Project: Pop-Up Medford was a huge success and is helping us strengthen our local economy and support small businesses," says Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. "We are so excited to welcome the next round of entrepreneurs to a great new space on Boston Avenue with all the resources they will need to grow their businesses."

Rocco DiRico, Associate Vice President, Government and Community Relations

To bring the program to life during this round, the city turned to UpNext, a consulting firm that specializes in short-term retail activation. UpNext signed a three-month lease with Walnut Hill and began shaping the vacant storefront into a shared space for multiple vendors.

The model goes beyond simply filling a space. At the Medford Square pop-up, three vendors operated side by side, learning not only from customers but also from each other.

"It gives business owners a rare opportunity to test their ideas and see whether a bricks-and-mortar shop is viable," says Cheryl Smith, property manager at Walnut Hill.

Karen Cutone, Tufts' senior director of real estate for Tufts, notes that the short-term model can also point toward longer-term growth. "If a vendor experiences huge success, we can pull on that thread and see what might be possible long term," she says. For the entrepreneurs, such success could serve as proof of concept-evidence that their idea resonates with customers in Medford.

And for the city, each pop-up has the potential to seed a more permanent business presence, strengthening the local commercial landscape. "It's good for us and for the occupants, because everyone can see what works without a risky upfront commitment," Cutone says.

The pop-up held a grand opening celebration on January 14, featuring Mayor Lungo-Koehn and members of the Medford Chamber of Commerce.

For Tufts, the ribbon-cutting goes beyond mere ceremony, DiRico says. "It's a chance to celebrate how Tufts and Medford come together, share resources, and create something that benefits the whole community," he says.

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