Pop-up shops are in danger of becoming a little bit of last year’s news, given the seeming propensity of almost every retailer to jump on this particular bandwagon.
That said, every now and then something comes along that does surprise and the newly opened Conran Shop in Westfield London falls into this category.
Pop-ups should be the simplest form of retailing, something quick, dirty and eye catching and this Conran Shop, open for a couple of weeks, ticks all of these boxes. Whether it is the bright Conran Shop wallpaper, or the red and green bentwood chairs that define the upper perimeter wall, this is sophisticated visual merchandising made to look simple, although this kind of artful naivety usually means considerable thought.
The other point about this small unit is the relative width of the product range on display. You can buy chairs, tables and multiple items for the kitchen in a store that would usually accommodate half the number of SKUs that are on offer. This has been achieved by dense merchandising of the kind more normally associated with discount shops. And to an extent that is what this store is. The products, from The Conran Shop’s Well Considered range, are intended to appeal to those with eyes for style but without the means to go the whole Sir Terence hog.
Also worth noting is the positioning of the store within the shopping centre. This may be a lower-cost option for shoppers than a straightforward Conran offer, but the shop is right next to The Village: the area set aside for designer stores. Both Conran and Westfield appear to know what they are doing.
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