Tag: popupshop

What is a pop-up shop?

A pop-up shop is temporary retail space used by one or multiple brands (shop share) to test new concepts, formats and markets in an innovative and original way without heavy investment.

Pop-up shops, by their ephemeral nature, encourage purchases through the FOMO  (fear of missing out) effect. It is also now part of a strategy used by bigger brands to test a market or try new concepts. For pure play retailers it can directly connect them with their customers in order to engage or provide relevant research information and greater brand awareness.

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The short-term retail concept is changing the traditional ways we shop.
Pop-up shops have become increasingly common as brands and retailers look to create new ways to heighten the brick and mortar arm of their operations. With the current demand for new retail concepts the property market is becoming more flexible through the use of technology, which enables brands to connect to landlords much faster than ever before and enable them to try short-term rents which is something that only started to happen in the last decade and is starting to go mainstream.

We Are Pop Up has created an easy process for brands to find and test spaces and for landlords to find tenants. It is the world’s largest network of retailers, landlords and brands collaborating on creative retail experiences through one platform. Known as the airbnb of retail, it is a booking platform for short-term retail spaces. Brands can also collaborate with each other to create retail experiences through brand-to-brand messaging and ShopShare.

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Regardless of how successful a brand is online, nothing can replace the physical experience coupled with human interaction; pop-ups are here to stay and ultimately it will become a movement which will change the way retailers and property owners consider space, making it easier for businesses to utilise vacant spaces and create concepts never seen before.

 

 

Pop up shops rise to the challenge

Pop ups are now a mainstay of retail life, said the Financial Times this week. They asked our CEO Nick Russell to estimate the number of pop up shops in London. Read his reply and the FT’s take on the rise of the pop ups…

Pop up stores rise to challenge of reviving retail, says Financial Times
Pop up stores rise to challenge of reviving retail, says Financial Times

Tinned Bananas at BOXPARK – go nuts!

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Tinned Bananas is a new breed of women’s fashion. We make crazy designs and print them onto stretched fabric to give you a different style of clothing!

Our prints are our own, they are who we are and they are what define us. We take inspiration from raw funk to gritty soul and we fill our prints with untapped energy. One thing’s for sure: their explosive personality will blow your mentality!

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Taking the next step in our creative journey we have recently opened our flagship store at the world’s first pop-up mall, BOXPARK.

We want there to be a soulful feeling in everything we do and ensure there is a constant flow of good energy in our work! Here at our pop-up store at BOXPARK, funk is king. We want you to open your mind and bring yourself to life and our store at BOXPARK allows us to do just that!

Our retail space is open for 3 months, from the 1st November to 1st February!

During our time at BOXPARK we want to engage with our target audience as much as possible. We will be offering a range of in-store discounts and hosting a number of special events! Customers will also have the chance to purchase exclusive products that are available only to BOXPARK customers.

BOXPARK is a great concept and is perfect for companies like ours! It is simple and a great way for start up brands to find their feet, have fun with their customers and create a buzz around their brand! Owner and founder of BOXPARK, Roger Wade, is a key figure in supporting smaller brands. He is currently leading the battle to reduce business rates in the area, which would give companies a better chance to succeed in this tough industry and ultimately, help rejuvenate our high streets!

Tinned Bananas at BOXPARK - go nuts! Pop-up shop

BOXPARK is more than a shopping experience. Located in one of the most happening places in East London, it is a society made up of creative ideas that continues to push boundaries, offering customers something new week in week out. It is the start of something new.

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We are always listening and looking for the opportunity to talk to people so please don’t stay quiet, come and see some our weird and wonderful prints, visit us at BOXPARK, Shoreditch. x

Tinned Bananas at BOXPARK – go nuts!

Find Tinned Bananas at BOXPARK »

www.tinnedbananas.com

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Online brands come onto high streets: The rise of pop ups

Dr. Alastair Moore was invited to Downing Street this week for the launch of Lord Young’s second report on supporting small firms in the UK.

Here at WAPU we (obviously) think that new “pop-up” models of retail – longer than an event and shorter than a lease – play a very important role in regenerating the UK High-Street. It was greatly encouraging to see our contribution recognised in the report, along with partners Pop Up Britain and Popupspace.

“For online businesses, a pop-up offers them retail experience to raise their brand profile, test products and prices and have direct contact with customers, all with minimum financial commitment.”

The report goes on to describe the “early pioneers” striving to improve the model and enhance the experience for others. For example, wonderful new brands like NANUKK. Sarah McLeod said, “when you work alone and online, you never get the feedback – it was wonderful to hear that what I was doing on my own wasn’t crazy and that people actually liked my product and were prepared to buy it”

We are looking forward supporting many great new brands in the future!  You can read more here.

 

 

Pop Up Shop Story: The National Theatre Propstore is Back!

Open this weekend on London’s South Bank, the National Theatre Propstore is back for its second and final installment  The concept may sound simple: props and scenery from recent National Theatre productions are displayed as part of a temporary cafe/bar. But as last year’s @NTPropstore fans already know ( and this year’s are soon to discover ) the effect achieved by the sensitive curation of the props, and the fact that literally everything is structurally or superficially built of them, makes the space feel familiar and curious at once. True to its theatrical nature, it lights up the Southbank impressively after dark – a serious beacon for anyone looking east from a bus over Waterloo Bridge.

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We’re taking you with us behind the scenes to visit the Propstore while the space is still in production. If you’re as investigative as we are, you probably also find it hard to shake a fascination with ‘what’s behind the curtain’ in live performances and films. Maybe we want a part of the story that somehow feels more authentic, or a way to engage more directly with the mysteries; in either case, watching the Propstore develop before our eyes is trippy.

The Propstore launched for the first time in London’s Olympic Summer 2012 and was a huge hit. At the moment, we are surrounded by false walls, toilets-that-aren’t-toilets, tiny trains, ‘trees’ rolled in ‘grass’ like giant fake sushi rolls and a space-age floor.

Mark Simpson, head of catering at the National Theatre, explains that this year’s installment serves the dual-purpose of acting as a facade of sorts. Construction and development is taking place just behind the Propstore throughout the rest of the year for a new mainstay National Theatre project.

We’re walking through a space made of fake stuff, which is also a functional false wall for the Theatre itself… and it all disappears by the end of the year. It feels weird to think it, but we’re overcome by the sense that The Propstore is actually making magic happen. While the opening night is yet upon us, we eagerly look forward to the next transformation about to take place.

The Propstore is open until the 28th of September 2013, and you can visit the National Theatre to find out more about what’s ‘in store’.

You can also see the rest of our journey depicted in photos.

And we just caught this great review by Lauren Laverne interviewing the Propstore’s producer and designer.

Hot Pop Up Shops: Global Edition – The Garage in Fairfax, California

Nestled at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais not far north of San Francisco, Fairfax, California, has long been a small but thriving enclave of artists, musicians, and creative makers of all kinds. Pop-ups may be becoming common in large cities, but it is in the smaller communities where they can often have the biggest impact. The Garage opened this past weekend in Fairfax, and looks to be a shining example of how pop ups can enable sustainable, localized shopping in communities of any size.

The Garage has come together with all of the right ingredients for a great pop up: a group of passionate makers who want to focus on their craft; a centrally located space that had been sitting unused; a region which has long embraced creativity, sustainability, and local commerce (Fairfax has even adopted its own currency, the Fairbuck!). The founders of The Garage, Krissy Teegerstrom and Michele Schwartz, had the idea shortly after the annual Sustainable Holiday Crafts Fair in town. They, and many of the other vendors who have joined them, felt that it was a shame that they could only offer their goods in person during the periodic events like the fair, and so in the new year they began the search for a more permanent space.

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It didn’t take long to come across the former auto repair shop that has been transformed into The Garage, as it was a vacant space sitting at the corner of one of the main intersections in the center of town. Though the property is currently for sale, the owners had an appreciation for the community aspect of the project, and so agreed to lease the space while looking for a buyer. All of the vendors involved pitched in to help transform the empty property into a vibrant, thriving shop space filled with countless personal touches, and on the morning of April 25, The Garage opened for business.

Inside you’ll find:

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The Garage is open Wednesday – Friday, 12pm to 6pm, and Saturday & Sunday, 11am to 7pm. Located at 2000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, CA 94930, it’s a great stop on your way to the beautiful Marin coast and countryside, or as a destination unto itself. Founder Krissy Teegerstrom offers some great suggestions for a day in Fairfax on 7×7.

See more of The Garage on our Pinterest board

Pop Up Shop Community Event : Pop Up Meet Up (#PUMU) Camden

Yesterday, We Are Pop Up and Camden Collective teamed up to bring you Pop Up Meet Up 7. It was an honour to work with Jude Bennett and the Collective team; using the space for this month’s #PUMU and helping to launch the Camden Collective’s first mainstay pop-up shop.

This month it was all about collaboration, with different skills coming together to create successful, exciting and unique pop-up shop concepts. What better way to share the beauty of collaboration than to show it? Honest Brew showcased their new customizable brewing concept and filled the space with the aroma of hops. Les Greedy Cochons treated us to the best food in Camden; bite-sized!

Filled with an expertly curated art show by Test Space, there were artists pulling screen prints and live music. This was truly a unique room full of creative and like-minded people sharing, inspiring and working together.

The night’s big announcement was the Camden Collective and We Are Pop Up competition. Camden Collective are offering a beautiful space on Camden High Street for 2 days to 2 weeks cost-free. The competition is open to creative projects, businesses and brands working in fashion, retail, art, design and creative events.

Met someone who has inspired, interested or shared a passion with you? This is a great reason to start a conversation. Applications can be mixed-and-matched, and you can even link to another project you love to apply with a collaborator.

What are you waiting for? Apply now!

Many thanks to Camden Collective photographer Keiko Yamazaki for the incredible photographs of the evening. You can see even more on our #PUMU 7 Pinterest Board.

The Shop is dead. Long live the shop.

Pop-Down Square Cinema Area, Mike Lim, Shoichi Sado, Olivia Wright and Isobel Davies @PopDownSquare

Good article in The Times this weekend by Matthew-Paris about the future of shopping.

The internet changes how we buy and think, but old memes and behaviours take time to change:

“Thus we suppose that shopping and walking are somehow connected, and Americans suppose that shopping and driving are somehow connected. And everyone thinks a shop is a place — a place in a place; a place you go to and, being a place in a place you go to, will thus be either a specialist shop in a mixed cluster, or a “supermarket” or “department store” with the cluster under one roof. The news that these places can now be virtual, accessed on your screen, hardly needs to be laboured. “

As the role of the shop – a place in a place – changes, so no doubt will the way we search, select and transact real spaces. Does it alter the value of space? Does it change the ability or desire to ‘sell’ in real spaces? Whilst an increasing number of our transactions become virtual, our desire to meet and experience the real world, real things, real people, real products seems more permanent than the ‘form’ this engagement might take.

Thats where WeArePopUp.com can help. By enabling people to say what they mean by a shop – by allowing people to propose what a ‘shop’ should be – for what use, over what time at what price, with what activity with which collaborators.

“But still that hand from the past grips us… [finally] online shops (though not online shopping) will prove — like the out-of-town shopping centres that the internet killed, like the traditional high streets that the shopping centres killed, and like the street vendors and markets that the high streets killed — merely transitional.”

Offline shops are changing but activity, offline shopping, will transition to new forms – the shop is dead, long live the shop.

Tie Dye High Five gets tie-tastic at Boxpark Shoreditch

We’ve just come from a tie-tastic session at the high-energy #tiedyehighfive pop-up workshop at Boxpark.

It was so fun and we loved the style. The walls were adorned with examples of dying techniques on a massive (super colourful!) scale. From the ‘heart’ to the ‘spiral’, ‘bullseye’ and ‘crumple’, we were shown how to get the desired effect, and then squeezed the Dylon to our heart’s content!

Follow #tiedyehighfive on Twitter to see some great results from the sold-out weekend workshops. And check out our workshop on the We Are Pop Up Pinterest Board: http://m.pinterest.com/wearepopup/pop-up-shop-tiedyehighfive-boxpark-from-neonstash/

Why Your Mobile & Retail Strategy Should Emulate Samsung’s

Samsung is a master at consumers choice. Samsung offers a mobile phone to suit every customer’s requirements, at all price points, on a variety of different operating systems, while its rivals offer a restricted or – in the case of Apple – no choice.

Analyzing the products available from the top five handset and smartphone manufacturers tells a very interesting story. In the US alone, Samsung offers 153 different cell phones! Samsung also knocked Apple off its perch to become the best-loved smartphone vendor in the US-based Brand Keys 2013 Customer Loyalty Index.

Will we see this sort of thing soon in the m-payments/pos/retail space? What if you could plug any merchant account or and banking facility into a set of tools to help you run your business rather than sitting in one particular silo? What about customer service – click & collect, browse online, buy offline, vise vera.. As in mobile, retailers that offer their customers a widest variety of options possible, for them to pick which ever is most convenient, will provide the best retail experience.

If you like stats, you’ll love: The big compendium of global mobile stats. Read more here.