By Marianne Wilson

(September 24, 2009) Temporary stores seem to be popping up all over these days. The Sept. 16 edition of SPECS Talk, a monthly e-newsletter from Chain Store Age covering store planning & design and retail construction and facilities management issues, invited readers to comment on the trend.

Among the many responses:

“We're definitely seeing a surge in pop-up locations, and I wouldn't be surprised if this trend continues into the holiday season. They can be set up and taken down quickly and more affordably, so it's easy to see why they are growing popular in this economic environment."
--Anonymous

"Pop-ups are built to generate instant visibility and awareness in some cases, and in others, they directly drive sales. In either situation, pop-ups enable a retailer or brand to get closer to the customer."
--Anonymous

“Since shoppers expect pop-ups to deliver a higher, more condensed expression of your brand, it's important to deliver this. Care must be taken to make sure they are unique, memorable, but most of all, consistent with what your brand stands for.”
--Anonymous

“Who stands out in my mind when I think of pop-ups? Uniqlo, Ikea, Target and Illy.”
--Randall Stone
Creative director of the retail practice
Lippincott
New York City

“Pop-up stores ARE a great idea, my only question would be, what took you so long? A toy store pop-up at Christmas? Are you kidding me? Win-win-win -- customer-retailer-developer … oh, and Santa, too.

You could keep going on that:

• Pop-up Staples on campus in August-Sept.
• Pop up Ski stores in Dec.
• Pop-up coffee shops during finals weeks.
• Pop-up taco stands outside of clubs (already being done).

It could be the new ‘growth vehicle’ for retail.”
--Lee Peterson
Executive VP
Brand & Creative Services
WD Partners
Columbus, Ohio

“Considering the economy, pop-up stores are a great way for retailers and manufacturers to test new ideas, products, store designs, demographic targets and drive incremental revenue. We have found pop-up stores to be a great way to take advantage of seasonal or event-based programs. For instance, H&R Block rolls out pop-up stores every year from December-April, taking advantage of tax season. This is has proven to be a very profitable revenue device for them. Toys ‘R’ Us’ plan for holiday stores is very smart and likely to demonstrate the value of this new retail trend.”
--Steven Skinner
Executive VP consumer industries
Miller Zell, Inc.

“Best damn retail idea to come along in years.”
--Jerry Gelsomino
FutureBest
jgbrandcoach.com

“Pop-ups are a low-risk approach to incremental revenue possibilities which take advantage of the extraordinary amount of empty retail space available in prime areas. If the consumer edges back into the discretionary marketplace, these ‘stores’ could be a viable concept this year, especially if the job market stabilizes. If the consumer stays in the fetal position, the pop-ups will be much to do about nothing and the retailers could be stuck with excess inventory.”
--Jim D'Aquila
CEO
Mercanti Group LLC

“Brookstone Co. does the best job out there in the temporary pop-up store business. They have over 300 permanent mall-based and airport stores and open 100 pop-up stores (kiosk and in-line stores) every holiday season. They have been doing it for 14 years and have the best brand execution I have ever seen.”
--A. Scott Alton
VP/GM Retail
Reebok North America

“I’ve seen one of these stores that is scheduled to be converted to a satellite college campus. It’s a good re-use, in a strongly populated area, with excellent parking and ‘good bones’ for the building. It surely beats sitting vacant for a decade and was happy to see this being converted to re-use.”
--Debora A. Hendrix, MAI
Director
Integra Realty Resources - South Carolina 

“Related to your question of pop-up stores, we’ve researched a few in the last five years. My favorite project involved a pop-up at [New York City’s] Union Square for GSK’s then new weight-loss drug ‘Alli.’ Their teams worked to promote the educational factor of proper diet and weight loss, and included ‘experts’ such as dietitians and nutritionists to answer visitor’s questions about the new drug.

Our team at Merchant Mechanics used observational and interview data to understand visitor’s experience within the initial (prototype) pop-up. We determined which elements worked and which didn’t, in terms of capturing and maintaining visitor’s attention/engagement. From our results, their design teams ‘shrunk’ the space to an optimized size and toured three versions of it around the country to major malls.”
--Kimberly Rose Clark, Ph.D.
Merchant Mechanics, Inc.
West Lebanon, N.H. 

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