Are Holiday Pop-Ups Worth It For Business Owners?
A pop-up retail space is a temporary space open for a specific period of time, normally one or two months. Examples of pop-up uses include sample sales, Halloween, and Christmas stores.
There are many benefits of pop-up shops, one being that business owners do not have to sign a long-term lease. It is also a relatively low-cost way to start a business. Other reasons include media attention, testing products, locations, or markets.
SoHo has become a mecca for pop-up shops over the past few years. Brands such as Dockers, Eight O’Clock Coffee, Nordstrom, and Birchbox have all successfully hosted pop-up’s.
Dockers Pop-Up
There are other pop-ups, however, which have failed, most recently these in 2014: Velcro, Zady, Republic Collective, Creeds Collective and SoHo Holiday Collective {seems if you put “collective” in a pop-up name, its doomed to fail}
So…are holiday pop-ups worth it for business owners, and specifically, in SoHo?
First we need to look at the two approaches companies take when operating holiday pop-ups in SoHo:
- Approach one: One company leases one temporary space
- Examples include Birchbox Man @ 1 Prince, Velcro @ 199 Lafayette, and Zady @ 44 Mercer
- Pros: Brand Management (you don’t have to worry that other “lessor” brands will be alongside), consistency of pop–up on corporate website, control
- Cons: Time management of press & media, costs of setting-up/demolishing and hiring staff rest solely upon one company
- Approach two: One corporate entity leases temporary space, and subsequently sub-leases to multiple companies in a “market-place” like setting
- Examples include Republic Collective @ 462 West Broadway, SoHo Holiday Collective @ 144 Wooster, and Creeds Collective @ 54 Crosby.
- Pros: Project management is outsourced, costs are shared
- Cons: Sharing space with companies you might not agree with ethical practices or product, website quality
Look how {horrible} the website for “SoHo Holiday Collective” looks:
While some companies succeed each year as a pop–up and become permanent stores (examples include Birchbox (operated as a pop–up Holiday 2013) and Eva Shaw Designs (participated in Creeds Collective in December 2012), other stores are overwhelmingly disappointed.
One of the brands at Republic Collective this year wrote: “shitty pop–up…not heavily trafficked”. The turnout must have been so unimpressive that the Republic Collective started advertising on Facebook the last two days of their event. Even though the pop-up ended 20 days ago, there are still ads on our Facebook page:
It’s a bait and switch…The Republic Collective promoted the need for businesses in a press release:
- PITCH
Where: Soho, New York
When: Holiday Season 2014
Cost to be a member: 5k – 15k per month
Amenities: Event space & Event aid, Sales Associates, Fixtures,Internet, Cleaning, Security, Electricity, Marketing & PR, Retail & Ecommerce Strategy consultation, Republic Collective Ratification Seal
Available spots: 10-20
- REALITY: Republic Collective found a hodge-podge of 18 brands to participate in their pop–up, ranging from menswear, mens footwear, womens ready-to-wear, houseware, etc. There was no consistency, on price-point, target audience, or marketing campaign.
Assuming each of these 18 brands paid $5,000, Republic Collective raised around $90,000. If one of the agreements is to split a portion of revenue, the Republic Collective could have raised even more.
In theory, it sounds like a no-brainer for businesses…but in reality, its a mirage of companies giving, but not receiving an equal benefit.
We could also use “Creeds Collective” as another example (since at this point you all might be thinking we’re hating on Republic Collective). On their website,
Creeds Collective is the love child of Creeds of Love and Concept Collective. We’ve partnered this coming holiday season to create a socially responsible interactive Holiday Pop Up Shop.
The brands appearing in Creeds Collective are said to go through a “Corporate Responsibility Vetting Process”
One comment