What has earned the new generation of stores this description is their transient nature and the fact that they seem to "pop up" un-announced, attract an audience of shoppers, and then disappear. This planned spontaneity gives a fresh feel and exclusivity to brands which today's "want it new and want it now" consumer enjoys.
As ever the UK and Western Europe follow American trends and the pop up phenomenon will certainly hit the UK high street within the next 12-18 months. The appearance of the new retail strategy should help revitalise a flagging retail market for some brands and hopefully energise the consumer. Here in the UK we have we already have experienced pop up in a small way with international gypsy brand Vacant opening here for just one month a year and also Amazon.com's annual Christmas store in London.
There are also plenty of what I would call "half way houses" fixed location retail brands that can reinvent themselves as frequently and thoroughly as Madonna or Bowie, in fact so frequently that they actually appear like pop-up stores. A good example of stores using what has been dubbed "planned spontaneity" is the communications brand 3 which regularly re-styles its image to reflect current advertising or even to celebrate an event such as becoming mobile supplier of the year. The stores are treated by Coutts, 3's design team, as a blank canvas upon which are painted the very noticeable brushstrokes of strong branding. As the stores, in prime locations, such as London's Oxford Street continually change their look they retain interest and attract shoppers. Indeed, so frequent are the changes that there is almost an element of seeking out the store just to see what it looks like this week.
Examples of the transient pop-up store store have been springing up now in the US for the last two-three years with brands like Target (the discount-chic franchise that works with very trendy fashion designers such as Isaac Mizrahi). Target opened a 1500 sq. feet store in New York's Rockefeller Center for just six weeks in 2003 to celebrate Mizrahi's new women's clothing line.
And, internationally, a good example already mentioned is that of Vacant. The brand is an exclusive retail concept and exhibition store that opens for one month only in empty spaces in major cities including New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Los Angeles. Vacant showcases a range of one-off, difficult to find limited edition products from a mixture of established brands and emerging designers. Limited quantities are available, but intriguingly to emphasise the exclusivity not all products on display can be purchased. As with any self respecting rave the new store locations are announced by email and text to Vacant Club members only moments before opening.
Some brands it seems have just embraced the concept totally into their retail strategy and see guerrilla retail activity as great advertising, great pr, and also a great chance to sell things! Comme des Garcons opened its first temporary Guerrilla Store in Berlin last year, which will remain open for business for just twelve months regardless of whether or not it's a success. The 750-square-foot Berlin store, located in a remote neighbourhood in former East Berlin, is raw space - just clothing racks and merchandise, which sits well with the very cheap $700 a month rent. The whole concept gives consumers something that can be perceived as exclusive, and "get it while it lasts", while Comme des Gar莽ons taps into an entirely new channel for quickly introducing new items around the world, in funky areas catering to a funky clientele.
Meanwhile, Song (the Delta Airlines' owned, chic no-frills airline) launched its second Song Store "pop-up" in Boston (near the Prudential Center), which, like its predecessor in New York's SoHo, opened for only two months. Will it sell the airline millions of extra tickets? Maybe not, but if an airline can open up pop-up stores and create some buzz, so can other industries normally not associated with the business of retail experience. And right now many retailers are asking themselves the serious question of how this phenomenon fits into their marketing.
Even the big boys are becoming attracted to the concept as demonstrated by JC Penney. The brand is experimenting with Pop-Up Retail as a tool to gain access to influencers and create some buzz, but also considers its "Turning Home into Haven" showroom in New York as a way to test the market for new product lines such as Chris Madden. Customers were able to browse the collection and purchase items online at computer stations in the pop-up store, which opened its doors in May 2004, for convenient home delivery. The retailer is now considering a pop-up store or showroom in Los Angeles as well, which would sell women's and men's clothing. Pop-Up Retail fits right in with the consumer's new need to be part of an exclusive "niche" group even though that group may ironically turn out to be not that small after all.
The group that responds well to the pop up offer is defined by youth, high disposable income, and the need to be an early adopter not only for retail products but in a very broad spectrum that includes new holiday destinations, where to buy a second home and what car to drive. Again American pop sociologists have already spotted this trend and have labelled it "mass exclusivity". The pop up concept appeals to this group as it surprises with temporary "performances", and exclusivity due to the very nature of the retail outlet having such a limited time span. It's all about creating a real buzz in the bazaar and trying-out new testing techniques. Pop up is a tool that fits a lot of high street brands and my guess is that it will be both popular and successful interestingly enough Peroni have just executed a variant of the pop up technique in Sloane Street where a cheap retail space was rented and made to look like a high end fashion label store with Armani look alike fascias. In the window a single bottle of Peroni displayed almost as an art installation. The shop secured endless column inches and was a great success from a PR and general marketing perspective.
Nigel Collett is Creative Director of leading retail specialist RPA whose clients include Starbucks, TKMaxx, Thomas Pink, Footlocker and Tommy Hilfiger. The company provides an end to end service for brands from architectural design to interiors. Our thanks to the trendwatching organisation for some of the information used in this feature.
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