Now You See It... Now You Don't: The Pop-Up Shop

Known as mini-boutiques, guerilla stores and of the moment trend-stops, pop-up shops have been one way retailers can capitalize on this down-turn in the economy.

Budgeting for mass retail and then scaling back for regular sales floors, brands are finding the pop-up shop not only boosts their profit, but adds to the theatrical production that is the fashion industry and all of it’s excitement anyway.

Starting around 2003 by non-fashion brands (Song Airlines to name one) it was a new way to market and give services a presence by finding cool products that go with them and sell the entire “lifestyle” to a set demographic.

The idea took off and retail giants started to follow. Target opened a 1,500 square foot retail space in Rockafeller Center and continues to do this in cities all over the country.

Web-retailers jumped on the bandwagon and wanted a real-life touch for their virtual world.

The Nike Store in London opened back in 2006 and has stayed open for limited times unveiling limited-edition pieces where queues wrap around the block even after years of being in business.

The goal is to pop-up unannounced, quickly draw crowds, vend up to the minute trends and new goods from famous brands and then disappear before you can tell all your friends and relatives about your cool find.

An excellent tool for retailers whether big or small, luxury or discount, known or emerging, to get a maximum amount of sales in a minimum amount of time, the pop-up store has become a place to try out a new geographic location for a brand (Think Hermes in the Hamptons), capitalize on a seasonal market (I-D Magazine for Art Basel Miami) or get within the buzz created during a major event (Temperley at Fashion Week Fall 2009).

Blink or you’ll miss them, is the momentum that garners the “craze” shopping attitude but the longevity of the product is the number of new faces and customers that might not be able to “pop back” yet have left their contact information for e-blasts, invites and other marketing tools.