Pop and go

Christmas. Seasonal space filler needed. Pop-up shops. Done. There can be little doubt that landlords will be seeking a bit of seasonal good cheer from brands eager to reach consumers during the holiday season and that can only mean one thing - a spate of pop-up shops aiming to entice consumers with a quirky, transient offer.

Like Marmite - it’s an idea to love or hate. And appropriately enough, following a successful trial run in its flagship Oxford Street branch last year, Marmite is one of those brands keen to adopt the approach. It is rolling out its pop-up store concept, in its case to all Selfridges outlets, with dedicated shops in the London, Birmingham, Manchester and Trafford stores, offering more than 150 branded products including the Marmite chocolate range, tableware, cufflinks and stationery over a 12-week trading period.

Once you pop

It is far from the only brand to take such an approach and interestingly luxury appears to have taken the lead. Cosmetics brand L’Oréal opened its first pop-up shop for its Maybelline brand in Covent Garden to tie up with London Fashion Week in September. Its 10-day promotion, called Maybelline New York, operated from a 600 sq ft store and sold exclusive ranges, while shoppers were able to attend masterclasses given by make-up artists and fashion magazine Marie Claire ran in-store events.

Kate Spade launched its first UK pop-up store in London’s Covent Garden on October 13 for one week from a 2,700 sq ft boutique, while Paris fashion house Hermès is to open up pop-up stores in east London and west London pre-Christmas. Branded J’aime mon carré [I love my scarf] will be exclusively dedicated to scarves. The first store will be sited at the Rochelle School of Art in Arnold Circus, Shoreditch and will open between November 17 and 25. The second store will open at 79-81 Ledbury Road in Notting Hill on November 25 and will remain open for “at least a couple weeks” and possibly until Christmas.

Elsewhere, Harvey Nichols has opened a ‘pop up’ outlet in Glasgow’s St Enoch’s Centre, located on the ground floor of the newly revamped centre, specialising in Harvey Nichols’ own-label food, gifts and Christmas hampers.

The temporary shop opened on October 9 and will trade until December 31 as part of the city’s ‘style mile’ for shopping this winter. Harvey Nichols director of regional stores Gordon Drummond adds: “It is a new venture for us and to launch it in the heart of Glasgow is fantastic.”

But retailers have been looking to more than just pop-up stores for new routes to market and some, again especially those in the luxury sector, have attempted to confront perceptions about how and where their products are sold. Louis Vuitton has trialled vending machines for its high price point handbags and accessories, while perfumery retailer Sephora has also tested vending machine retailing. However, Sephora international chief executive Jacques Levy reflects: “We like to try new things all the time but the vending machines [which were in stations] didn’t really work for us and it’s not something we will be repeating. But we are not afraid to keep testing new ideas.”

Similarly, fast fashion retailer Uniqlo is currently selling its HeatTech thermal underwear at temporary shops inside train stations in its domestic market, Japan, and until December 10 two 300 sq ft pop-up outlets near the ticket gates at Tokyo’s Shinjuku and Shinagawa stations are targeted to sell an eye-watering 200,000 items.

The short runs and deliberately quirky nature of such projects fits with the classic model of pop-ups but maintaining the sense of innovation with a fickle consumer is likely to remain a challenge.

In March west London shopping centre Whiteleys and entrepreneur Brian MacShane, an Antipodean who has worked at Espirit and Mambo, combined to open Pop Store: a high-design roving fashion store that stocks new and unique brands.

Pop Store first launched in Brent Cross in May 2009, where it traded for two months introducing worldwide brands to north London, such as Le Spec sunglasses from Australia and the T-shirt range from New York-based Christopher Lee Sauve. It then operated at Highcross Leicester between November 2009 and January 2010.

Pop Stores at Whiteleys includes five pop-up boutiques on continuous rotation, with a link on its website. However, reception to the initiative has been mixed.

Kate Ancketill, managing director of trends agency GDR, says that landlords need to think more holistically about the role of the space they have and offer a rotation of services that provides something for the consumer. Another pop-up shop might not cut it. “Community engagement brings footfall,” she says. “The important thing is that the ideas are fresh and relevant. There are all sorts of things that can be done with empty space and often it is a question of stepping back and thinking about what is best for the whole retail environment, not simply about filling that space up.”

However, pop-ups are not the only way of filling space on a temporary basis and short-lets also have a role to play and can lead to longer-term leases. HMV property director Mark Bowles says that the entertainment retailer trialled a number of short lets in the run-up to last Christmas and ended up converting a number of those into longer term deals. “It is an effective way of trialling a location and it’s something we will be looking at again for this Christmas trading period,” says Bowles. This week the retailer confirmed it is looking for a 1,500 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft temporary let in Newcastle-under-Lyme, which would operate until January but might be a precursor to a permanent store.

However, Julian Dunkerton, founder of fashion brand Superdry, believes the route to market is less important than the product. “We are looking to expand as quickly as possible,” he says. “Yes, we are looking for larger stores like everyone else but the secret is in having a product that consumers want. If you have that then really the channel is less important, we’ll do whatever we think is right in a particular location for the business.”