The holidays have arrived and it's time for me to make that traditional annual visit! No, not to grandma's house... but to the mall! Here in the United States and abroad malls (aka "shopping centres") have a similar vibe, format and purpose: Provide a disparate collection of chain stores under one "roof, a big box category killer or two, and anchor it all with a couple department stores or hypermarkets at the ends. It's a model that worked well for many decades, but like so many things in retail... is struggling in the "new normal" of 21st century retailing. According to Georgia Tech professor Ellen Dunham-Jones, coauthor of Retrofitting Suburbia, beginning in the mid 1990's, a decline in tenant occupancy began, suggesting shoppers were beginning to shy away from the tried and true mall model. A downward spiral began: vacant store windows and shuttered doors meant fewer choices for shoppers, leading many of them to look elsewhere, and the decline in foot traffic lead to even more vacancies, starting the cycle anew.
Now add in a global recession with an unprecedented number of retailers closing up stores: suddenly the sprinkling of vacant space "available for lease" has become in some cases whole corridors or even the entire mall. There's even an entire website dedicated to mourning the passing of shopping malls.
So how are malls trying to stave off demise or even prosper? Promotions? Increased advertising? Retrofitting? All of these are parts of the solution, but truly if that's all it takes, why are so many malls still going under or suffering so badly?
While there are many new ideas for how retailers can embrace new formats (and we'll be exploring several of them here on the GREC blog), this posting is about a particular concept that's rising in popularity all over the world: the pop-up store. According to RetailTraffic, the pop-up is where a retailer is allowed to sign a temporary lease lasting anywhere from two months to six months. Mall owners have pushed hard against this trend - preferring the perceived stability of long-term leases - but given the rising vacancy rates and big-box store closings, more and more are seeing the value in changing their mindset.
Pop-up retail isn't about the calendar/game stands or Halloween costume stores that spring into being during the holiday seasons or the ubiquitous kiosks selling everything from faux hair extensions to emulational sleeping kittens... pop-up implies something more...
I saw it in a mall in Hong Kong: A strikingly beautiful all glass building temporarily erected right in the middle of the main floor. The merchandise was unique graphic t-shirts artfully arranged as if in a museum. The entire roof was signage, announcing to the 7 floors of escalators that it was, indeed, the "I.TXX POP UP STORE" in unmistakable language. In short... it had my attention.
What makes the pop-up different isn't just that it's temporary; there are three major types of pop-up that are now gaining popularity:
- well known retailers testing the waters in a new territory or capitalizing on a season (for example Toys R' Us Holiday Express stores, or Target's pop-up stores in Sydney or their docked ship in Manhattan)
- brand names or startup retailers pulling out the stops on a product launch (for example adidas Originals at London Fashion Week)
- brands and retailers creating in-store experiences that reinforce their core brand values and customer activities in ways that don't fit their store formats (for example Quiksilver Pop-Up Skatepark)
So why is pop-up retailing the "big idea" that reinvents the mall and gets retailers and shoppers back into the mall space? Because pop-up retailing changes the rules: the store is an event - not just a destination. And this new paradigm gives retailers the flexibility to try new things, delight their customers, and create a sense of urgency without the "sale prices end Friday!!!!" hype. And I'll add one other point to that... consumers EXPECT more from the shopping experience - even in existing formats - so adding a pop-up experience to how shoppers see your brand can lead to increased sales in your existing stores as well.
And for extra customer satisfaction: for all of us who face this holiday season with lowered expectations, fully prepared for another trip to the mall to see the same tired holiday displays and "Black Friday" sale prices on the way to see Santa, surprise and delight us... Give us an incredible pop-up experience, and use a combination of social media and a mobile retail experience to lead us there to shop!
