A young entrepreneur from West Vancouver is curating a show of local designer wares at a pop-up store in Vancouver's trendy Mount Pleasant neighbourhood all this month.

Jenna Grant, 22, and her collection of local artists and entrepreneurs are selling fashion and gift items in a temporary retail space at the Rize condominium development at Kingsway and Broadway in Vancouver. They've assembled their wares under the store name Concordia.

Concordia is the ancient Roman Goddess for peace and harmony. Grant said she chose the name because it represents the coming together of artists and entrepreneurs at the Rize.

Rize Alliance Properties Ltd. is offering the retail space free of charge to local entrepreneurs to support local business, according to the developer's website.

Grant is selling her teacup candles alongside jewelry, giftwares, clothing, housewares and art by other local artists.

Grant said she knows many people who are trying to make it in the creative world, as artists or fashion designers, and this motivated her to open the store at the Rize. "There's so many young people my age . . . that are just looking for that opportunity to get the exposure for themselves and get themselves out there and I think sometimes it's hard to bridge the gap from making crafts and art at home and then getting into a retail space and getting it to consumers," she said.

Five of the 13 artists featured at Concordia are from the North Shore. Grant said gathering artists for the store was easy because word of the initiative quickly spread through the design community.

Among the featured artists is fashion student Emily Joe Heaps, whose clothing designs are made from fabric donated by Retro Rock Vintage.

Grant said all the items for sale are moderately priced and she thinks the community will be supportive of the locally handmade products.

"Despite Canada's economic state, I think that the demand for good quality locally made products is strong. The more people are learning about eating locally, growing food locally, and eating organic, I think the more they learn as a consumer it has a ripple effect, so buying locally handmade stuff directly contributes to the locally community, the local economy," she said.

Every month the Rize retail space is given to a new retailer. Concordia is currently sharing the space with a retail concept called Velveteen Vintage, which features handmade and re-made products by a group of East Vancouver youth.

The developers are still looking for retail concepts for late summer and early fall. For more information and to download an application, visit www.rize.ca.