Popping up near you: Ice cream museums, sitcom-themed diners

Shopping malls and commercial landlords were looking to fill vacant storefronts, small business owners needed low-cost ways to build their brands and a younger generation of customers was looking for something different than retail chain stores.

Baras says newer examples are increasingly focused on generating buzz and incorporating emerging digital technology such as virtual reality headsets to create memorable and immersive experiences.

Eventually, she hopes to open a full-fledged "cat cafe" akin to the coffee shops that have proliferated in Japan and elsewhere where patrons can sip beverages, play with cats and possibly adopt their own feline.

PlaceInvaders, a New York-based company, does intimate dinners in unique homes all across the country while the property owners are away.

Since launching in 2014, they've hosted meals in Motown Records founder Berry Gordy's former mansion in Detroit; a historic firehouse in Phoenix, Arizona; and a graffiti studio in New York, among dozens of places.

Cincinnati; San Antonio; Tacoma, Washington; and Pittsburgh are providing low cost rents, marketing and other support to pop-ups while also trying to streamline small business permitting and licensing processes, says Emily Robbins, of the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C.

Other cities are also trying out pop-up "parklets" — temporary seating nooks carved out of parking spaces — and encouraging other non-commercial pop-ups such as exercise groups and art exhibitions.