Neighborhood Goods announced a new initiative launching this summer called The Commons that will be a free platform for brands, restaurateurs, musicians, and artists whose businesses have been affected by COVID-19 to engage with customers, reinvigorate businesses, bring people back to work, and support local communities.

According to Fashionista, co-founder Matt Alexander said the idea for The Commons came about only a week before it was announced. In thinking about how to reopen on the other side of this, he says he felt “it would be disingenuous to put something together that doesn’t acknowledge that a lot of people are losing jobs and a lot of brands are struggling.”

In addition to believing it was “the right thing to do,” Alexander felt the initiative made good business: “We’ve always believed trading in relevance is more important than ever in the retail industry. You’re going to want to feel like you’re contributing to something meaningful, more than just trying to extract dollars from wallets.”

The retailer is taking applications for free space at each of its Neighborhood Goods locations in Manhattan, Plano, and Austin, Texas, upon reopening. Living up to its name, the retailer has plans to bring neighborhoods together on the path back to normalcy. Each location will activate its kitchens to feature food from local chefs to help bring restaurants back to life, live music in-store to bring musicians back to work, job fairs with local businesses for those who’ve lost work, and placing work from local artists on their walls.