design:retail - June 2018 - 16

the visual eye

016

Pop-up Retail's
Unerring Influence

PETER-TOLIN BAKER
VISUAL MERCHANDISING SPECIALIST
P-T B DESIGN SERVICES

ptb@ptbdesignservices.com

OT SO LONG ago-15 to 20 years-

before Facebook and Instagram,
and just as the internet became
publically available, the appearance of pop-up stores on the
retail landscape created quite a buzz. There
was much debate that this seemingly new store
format was either another sign of retail's "apocalypse," or that it represented a welcomed and
refreshing approach to retail design.
Pop-ups continue to represent an active
layer within the wide bandwidth of retail,
yet it's worth noting that, in many ways, they
were the groundbreakers for today's fascination with experiential retail environments.
Many of the more newsworthy aspects of what
comprised the pop-up's unique attributes have
become the basic building blocks for today's
experiential retail environments. These include
integrating and testing new customer touchstones via digital marketing, social media, online
sales and product launches, along with the more
tangible aspects of designing a successful retail
experience, such as flexible fixtures, thoughtful layout, good lighting, bold use of signage and
graphics, unique materials and finishes, etc.
Global economics helped spur the advent of
what became referred to as "flash" or pop-up stores.
Turbulent economic times in the 1990s within
the commercial real estate markets, coupled with
surging rental rates and dramatic stock market
fluctuations, resulted in many store closures, high
vacancy rates and empty storefronts. Driven by
lower rates and more available short-term lease
agreements, pop-ups began to occupy select vacant stores-most notably in cities such as Tokyo,
London, Los Angeles and New York-providing
landlords a unique opportunity to fill the void.
Equally, pop-up retail was used to create demand for limited product or in response to a
hot trend, be it seasonal or limited availablity in

JUNE 2018

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select locations for a specific amount of time. This
approach helped drive many of the earlier successes
of late-'90s Japanese pop-ups and early retailgallery ventures in the United States, including
Russ Miller's pivotal Vacant in Los Angeles.
It was the spirit of pop-ups that was so catching.
The short-term nature of the store's lease, combined with a sense of spontaneity, creativity and
thrift, demanded innovation and speed, which
produced visually dramatic results that emphasized brand experience and product interaction
over sales-and all on a budget. More marketingthan sales-driven, pop-ups provided a helpful
means to reach existing and new customers in
oftentimes untested or pioneering locations. This
spirit of creative spontaneity has continued to fuel
the evolving changes in all levels of retail design.
It also quickly drove interest and involvement of
a widening array of brands, from big box to luxury
fashion houses, including Target's pop-up on New
York's Chelsea Pier (2002), Comme Des Garçons'

GLOBALSHOP.ORG

Berlin Guerilla store (2004) and Louis Vuitton's
Underground/Tokyo luxury basement loading
dock (2009).
Before pop-ups appeared, there were many
ways in which temporary retail locations were
being used. Seasonal pop-ups, such as fireworks stands, Christmas shops and Halloween
costume stores, are common and represent
similar qualities. The spectrum of temporary
retail settings includes a full range of street
fairs, promotional events, consumer expos
and tradeshows. Pop-up shops today now
include both brick-and-mortar storefronts
as well as a variety of temporary structures,
from retrofitted shipping containers to vintage
Airstream trailers.
But the forces that created pop-ups were
unique, as was the response. Quick, fast,
temporary-qualities inherent to pop-ups-
have become further interwoven into today's
retail landscape and creative design process for
permanent retail as well. This has helped to break
the longstanding notion that a retailer or brand
needed a long-term lease and a fully built-out store
environment to be taken seriously by customers.
Short-term leases, be it three days or three
months, are proving a unique and ever-evolving
option to the retail design landscape. It allows retailers the unique opportunity to directly interact
and communicate with customers, test new markets and products, engage the local community
and tell a strong brand story in a spirited way.
AS OWNER OF PTB DESIGN SERVICES, PETER-TOLIN BAKER IS ACTIVELY
INVOLVED WITH DESIGN AND CONTENT SOLUTIONS FOR A RANGE OF
RETAILERS, BRANDED EVENTS AND EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS,
INCLUDING STELLA ARTOIS, MATTEL, ASPREY AND CALVIN KLEIN.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE INCLUDES SCENIC DESIGN FOR MORE THAN
50 THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS, OVERSEEING VISUAL MERCHANDISING
FOR TIFFANY & CO. AND HENRI BENDEL NEW YORK, AS WELL AS
TEACHING AT THE FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY/SUNY.

Photo by V74/SHUTTERSTOCK

http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

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