Pop-up shops are temporary retail spaces that have been invaluable to e-commerce and mobile brands that do not have permanent physical store locations. However, more established brands are also using pop-up shops to their advantage.
Pop-ups allow brands without a permanent retail residence to bring their products to the public in person, while established retailers can use them to create experimental store designs, special events, and experiential models, as well as to test new markets. These temporary retail locations can also create brand awareness and push sales backed by fear of missing out (FOMO).
The most well-known and successful pop-up retailer in history is likely Spirit Halloween. CEO Steven Silverstein attributes Spirit’s success to its strategic inventory management and effective use of temporary locations. By offering an extensive selection of over 4,500 costumes and leveraging real estate that becomes available from defunct stores, Spirit Halloween has set itself apart from traditional retailers.
This model allows the company to quickly adapt to trends and manage excess inventory efficiently, maintaining its dominance in the Halloween market and driving significant foot traffic for landlords. The chain’s ability to secure prime retail spaces and manage inventory effectively underscores its strength as a pop-up retailer.
In another example from Storefront, Boohoo, the British fashion retailer, leveraged a pop-up store to not only boost brand visibility but also to conduct market research. Recognizing the competitive nature of the U.S. clothing market, the company utilized the pop-up to carve out its niche. The store featured a shoppable showroom where customers could try on outfits and share them on social media. The brand tracked the outfits customers tried on, and on the final day, shoppers “claimed the outfits that they tried,using the hashtag #theboohoostore.”
Additionally, in the UK, shops on High Streets have been struggling, “with footfall still well below pre-pandemic levels and many units lying empty,” and many believe pop-up shops are the answer that can help the retail area recover, according to the BBC. Although they might not be a permanent solution, some pop-up retailers could convert into permanent retail locations.
Though many pop-up shops are deployed to help smaller or e-commerce-only retailers experience a real physical retail location — without long, pricey leases that can prove to be risky — more established brands now also take advantage of the pop-up concept.
According to Retail Insight Network, global fashion powerhouse H&M is gearing up to debut a new pop-up store in Sweden. The store will showcase H&M’s fall 2024 collection, with a preview on Sept. 12 ahead of the official launch on Sept. 16. This initiative is “part of a broader strategy to differentiate the brand from its competitors,” according to the outlet.
Another major brand that has been using pop-up shops for years now is Nike. The sportswear retailer has a rich history of brand activations tied to major sporting events and cultural milestones, such as the 2016 NBA Finals featuring the Golden State Warriors. The company launched an eye-catching pop-up shop shaped like a giant Nike basketball shoe box with the latest basketball sneakers and official team gear inside. “The success was so great that these unmissable pop-up stores in a prime downtown location have become a core staple of Nike’s experiential marketing playbook,” according to GoDelta.
Popable, a tech company that helps brands find pop-up spaces, compiled a list of 12 brands that have grown their businesses with pop-up shops:
- Warby Parker
- Glossier
- Casper
- Away
- Allbirds
- Everlane
- Dyson
- Mejuri
- Birchbox
- Rent the Runway
- Baublebar
- Stitch Fix
Furthermore, the global fast-fashion retailer SHEIN has no physical stores but has opened up pop-up shops in the past, such as one in Santa Monica, California, earlier this year. Reuters also reported that SHEIN opened a pop-up in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August to expand its brand recognition within the country.
The list of brands and retailers, both small businesses and major companies alike, using pop-up shops is growing. However, there are still many major brands that have not yet experimented with pop-ups, possibly due to the notion that they wouldn’t benefit their brand or business strategy.
For some, short-term leases may not be attractive, especially to landlords that may prefer to have “long-term leases with credit tenants and use them to leverage other acquisitions.” Additionally, Jeffrey C. Paisner told WWD, “It takes a lot of capital to make a pop-up look like the expectations consumers have from knowing what a brand’s permanent stores look like. There’s not enough demand for pop-ups to reduce the vacancy rate.”
