If new products can come and go, why can't the stores that display them do the same? Well, you guessed it, retail outlets increasingly do. From gallery-like shopping spaces with one-off exhibitions to mobile units bringing innercity-chic to rural areas, TRENDWATCHING.COM has noticed an increase in temporary retail manifestations around the world.

We've dubbed this trend POP-UP RETAIL, as these initiatives have a tendency to pop up unannounced, quickly draw in the crowds, and then disappear or morph into something else, adding to retail the fresh feel, exclusivity and surprise that galleries, theatres and Cirque du Soleil-adepts have been using for years. To the delight of consumers, who are increasingly used to MASSCLUSIVITY and PLANNED SPONTANEITY. Trend examples are below, to learn from or copy.


Song's flagship store in New York City: click on pic for more POP-UP RETAIL pictures

• No-frills, yet stylish airline Song opened a flagship store in November 2003, smack in the middle of SoHo, NY (near Dean & DeLuca and Mercer Hotel). Besides being the first airline store of its kind, its lifespan raised eyebrows, too: the 'Song in the City' store will close next week; 22 December 2003, to be precise. Open only from Thursdays to Sundays, this 9-week store features samples of Song's in-flight menu, sells travel gear, lets visitors experience the various in-flight entertainment options, and yes, even sells tickets. Brands like Disney, Coca-Cola and Health Magazine dole out goodies (including free massages!), all this in a very stylish, SoHo-worthy environment. Check the intinerary-style agenda for this week's events, while it's still there.

• Target, the US-based discount-chic franchise that works with (amongst others) fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, opened up a temporary 1500 sq. feet store in Rockefeller Center to celebrate Mizrahi's stylish yet affordable new women's clothing line. The glossy store was open from 4 September to 15 October 2003 only. Last year, Target actually housed a temporary floating store on the Hudson River for the Christmas season. POP-UP RETAIL at its best!



Images from Vacant stores

• Turning POP-UP RETAIL's temporary theme into a long term formula is Vacant, 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, showcasing a range of one-off, hard to find and strictly limited edition products from established brands and emerging designers. Limited quantities are available, and not all products on display can be purchased. New store locations are announced by email to Vacant Club members only moments before opening. .

• Less secretive, but certainly the most mobile version of POP-UP RETAIL: the London Fashion Bus. Launched at the end of May 2003, the London Fashion Bus is a continually touring showroom,stocking over 1,400 pieces of work from 40 designers. The refitted double-decker bus brings unique designer pieces to areas throughout Britain that don't have London's uber-trendy boutiques and outlets, while giving young designers a wider audience. Consumers can find tour dates and locations on the website.

• This summer, Ebay -- eager to get some real-world exposure, AND keen on shedding its 'flea market' image -- invited six interior designers to furnish an entire New York City penthouse. The catch? Designers had a limited budget and could only use furniture and accessories purchased through Ebay.com. The result turned out to be a mix of funky and chic, worthy of an upscale store. All items could be bought from the website for one week in October 2003, after which the Ebay Showhouse closed its physical and virtual doors, having fulfilled its POP-UP RETAIL goals.

• Proof that POP-UP RETAIL can flourish outside mega-metropolises as well: Brazilian cosmetics firm Oceanic, which didn't have the funds to build a nationwide bricks and mortar presence, decided to go mobile. It equipped the majority of its franchisees with Fiat Doblo minivans, which are both delivery vehicles AND shops. Developed in coordination with Cherto, a Brazilian distribution strategy group, the mobile stores make it easy to target prime consumer locations such as universities, schools, hospitals, parks, and trade shows. Not to mention customization: the mobile store's inventory can be customized for different locations (i.e. if a frachisee parks near a beach, he or she'd better stock up on sunscreen and suntan lotions!). POP-UP RETAIL Brazilian style!

OPPORTUNITIES

POP-UP RETAIL fits right in with the Entertainment Economy, the Experience Economy, the Surprise Economy, and so on. It's about surprising consumers with temporary 'performances', guaranteeing exclusivity because of the limited timespan. When truly mobile, like Vacant, the London Fashion Bus or Oceanic, POP-UP RETAIL also offers unparalleled opportunities for targeting and customization.

From individual designers teaming up, to real estate agents making better use of vacant properties, to big brands looking to add a bit of 'cool' and agility to their otherwise fixed locations and massive flagship stores: POP-UP RETAIL could do the trick. And let's not forget the dozens of online pure-plays dying to get a bit of offline visibility... (How about Amazon.com Christmas stores in Düsseldorf and London?) Expect more POP-UP RETAIL appearing in the months to come, and expect to find out about it first on TRENDWATCHING.COM. >> Email this trend to a friend.

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Picture: NYT

MARCH 2004 | We introduced our POP-UP RETAIL trend a short while ago, including examples like Vacant's traveling store, Song Airline's eight week SoHo outlet and Target's Christmas 'galleries', and now it seems high-end fashion brands are getting into the game as well. Comme des Garcons just opened its first temporary Guerrilla Store in Berlin, which will be open for business for only one year, whether it's a hit or a miss.

The 750-square-foot Berlin store, located in a remote neighborhood in former East Berlin, is more or less raw space: just clothing racks and merchandise, no architectural wonders, which sits well with the USD 700 a month rent (source: NYT).

The whole concept gives consumers something that can be perceived as exclusive, discovery-driven and 'get it while it lasts', while Comme des Garçons 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) is about to have its second Song Store 'pop-up' in Boston (near the Prudential Center), which, like its predecessor in New York's SoHo, will stay open for only 2 months. (source: Boston Globe).
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. Yours, perhaps? >> Email this trend to a friend.

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JULY 2004 | Our POP-UP RETAIL trend, which we coined in January of this year, keeps 'popping up': just last month USA TODAY covered the pop-up store phenomenon, which then got snapped up by other publications across the US. As we've stated before, as a trend, POP-UP RETAIL makes total sense: if new products can come and go, catering to a MASSCLUSIVITY starved audience, why can't the stores that display them do the same?

Sharing the latest in 'rotating retail' initiatives, here are some sunny POP-UP RETAIL examples, fresh from the streets of Manhattan and the beaches of the Hamptons:



- Target, now the official 'King of POP-UP RETAIL', has done it again: after Isaac Mizrahi's temporary 1500 sq. feet store in Rockefeller Center last October, the company popped up in the Hamptons with a temporary, 5 week summer store in the Bullseye Inn (28 May - 4 July 2004) for all things summer. Think table linens by Cynthia Rowley, outdoor lighting by Sean Conway and ample grills and barbeque accessories.

Billboards in the streets of Manhattan touted the pop-up store as the place to be for Park Ave execs in search of beach wares and beach 'buddies'. But Target didn't stop there: paying respect to those Manhattanites too busy to frolic in the Hamptons, Target popped up in Times Square on 24 June, its "Deliver the Shiver" trucks selling brand-new 5,000 BTU air conditioners for only USD 75.00 a pop, each unit coming with a free Bullseye pull cart as well. (Source: TrendCentral.) Very cool, this is how you create POP-UP lovemarks ;-)



- JC Penney, riding high these days on more contemporary collections, is honoring its new home furnishings brand, Chris Madden (an up-and-coming home decorating maven), with a 2,500 square feet pop-up space at Rockefeller Center. Like Target, J.C. Penney is experimenting with POP-UP RETAIL as a tool to gain access to influencers and create some buzz, but also considers the "Turning Home Into Haven" showroom a way to test the market for new product lines. Customers can 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. (Sources: AP, MorningStar.)

- POP-UP RETAIL works for online venues, too: Bluefly.com, an online retailer of designer brands at discount prices, opened a real-world holiday outlet store in New York. The 4,200-square-foot pop-up store is located on 24th Street. It's not a first for this e-tailer: last year, Bluefly cleared out its old stock in a temporary boutique, also in New York. (Source: The Economist.)



- And to keep things truly virtual: Style.com, the online home of Vogue and W magazines, recently introduced TheShop, which features, on a weekly basis, a rotating handful of online boutiques, ranging from hip, affordable work and weekend wear from Club Monaco to elaborate, collectable shoes by Edmundo Castillo. Definitely an interesting POP-UP RETAIL application, satisfying consumers' needs for original and surprising apparel, and establishing a platform for an abundance of original products from both established designers and new talent.

OPPORTUNITIES
POP-UP RETAIL fits right in with the Entertainment Economy, the Experience Economy, the Surprise Economy, with MASSCLUSIVITY, and so on. It's about surprising consumers with temporary 'performances', guaranteeing exclusivity because of the limited time span. It's about buzz, and about new try-out and testing techniques. It provides visibility for e-tailers and allows 'real-world' companies to enter uncharted markets on the cheap. In short, it's one of those trends that should be incorporated in every existing and new marketing and advertising strategy. Where will your brand pop-up next? >> Email this trend to a friend.

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Publisher: Trendwatching
One of the world's fastest growing trend agencies, independent and opinionated TRENDWATCHING.COM scans the globe for the most promising consumer trends, insights and related hands-on business ideas. So whether youre a marketer, management consultant, head of a start-up, student, researcher, journalist, business development director, fellow trend watcher, or just interested in staying on top of the latest trends, TRENDWATCHING.COM will instantly bring you up-to-date by getting the worlds most promising trends right in front of you
Web: www.trendwatching.com
Published: march 2005
Market: mens womens
Region: usa

DISCLAIMER
Information in this report relies on sources including Trade Shows, Associations, News Releases, Government Reports and other public sources. Infomat can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information or for loss or damage caused by any use thereof.