Hermes Diner Pop Up Tie Bar Time Warner Center Mall, NYC
By Emmanuel Black
Welcome to the pop up shop the retail experience taking over the globe one shop at a time. The concept starting in the early 2000s houses retail spaces for limited runs closing and reappearing sometimes weeks or months later. The shops often pop up year round ranging from small companies looking to gain quick holiday revenue to high end fashion houses looking to make a splash at the local mall. The cool in these shops lie in the uniquely designed concepts and limited products cause lets face it great shopping is much like dating no one wants anything easily accessible to everyone.
From the luxury shopper to the penny pincher pop up shops have something for everyone Amongst higher end brands Hermes , Barneys, and Commes Des Garçon have all gotten in on the action, launching some of the most unique shops everywhere from New York to Japan. The possibilities are endless as we see shops pop up everywhere from airport terminals to subway stations creating experiences easily rivaling there brick and mortar counterparts.
One of the biggest pop ups of the season, “The life of Pablo ” by Kanye west landing in soho on 83 Wooster street on March 18th. The excitement reached feverish levels in which shoppers waited in lines for up to 7 hours to gain entrance . The shop housing customized denim jackets, t shirts and hats deemed by Kanye as “art free of judgment clothing “. The shop which ran for two days reached one million dollars in sales ,showing just how much buying power the pop up format boast.
These shops proving to be successful breaking grounds for entrepreneurs , musicians ,and already established brands alike the brick and mortar world had better watch it’s back. The pop up industry has reached $50 billion in sales annually and continues to climb upward with new sites popping up on a weekly basis . With sales like these I think it’s safe to say the future of the retail experience is indeed the pop up shop is the future of retail.
-EB
