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September 30, 2019
Edited by
Dimitra Kessenides and
David RocksS O L U T I O N S
Flashstoresgrowfrom
attention-grabbingstuntsto
salesboostersIt Really Pops
districtanddowntown Los Angeles, selling
then-unknownbrands such as U.K. clothing
retailerBoohoo.com Plc and dog food deliv-
eryserviceOllie.The staff often included the
founder.“I wouldget calls from a lot of emerg-
ingbrandsthatwere on Etsy and barely had
theirownwebsite, and they wanted to do a
one-offholidaypop-up for two weeks,” says
MelissaGonzalez,of the pop-up architecture
companyLion’esque Group.
Today,Gonzalezfields calls from such estab-
lishedcompaniesas Amazon.com Inc. and
NordstromInc.ordirect-to-consumer brands
looking for 3- to 12-month installations. They
want to “test the viability of stores in certain
markets,” she says.
Mohamed Haouache, CEO of The-
Storefront.com, which runs a large pop-up
spacelisting,saysa shiftoccurredabout
18 months ago. Storefront’s bookings were
previously funded by marketing and media
budgets, he says, aimed at generating social
media noise. Now the goal is to sell as much as
possible in a short time. Budgets have mush-
roomed accordingly, and Storefront’s book-
ings and revenue have grown by triple digits
for each of the past three years, Haouache
says, while declining to give specific figures.
It now has more than 10,000 spaces.
Pop-ups have even become something of
a bragging point. At Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s
analyst day in April, Executive Vice President
Celeste Burgoyne highlighted its 60 “seasonal
stores” opened in North America in the pre-
vious year. More than 35% of the shoppers
in those outlets were new, she said, and the
locations will inform Lululemon’s choices about
where to expand.
Part of pop-ups’ appeal is that they represent
little risk. Executives can commit to eight weeks
and see how it goes. Why launch a collection
nationwide or bet the farm on a 10-year lease
when anything can be tested in the short term:
new collections, new locations, new concepts.Retail
The next time you sink into a modular couch
at Costco—use your imagination—know that
you’re sitting in the middle of a retail paradigm
shift. This fall, 700 Lovesac pop-up stores will
appearinsidethewarehousesacrosstheU.S.
for 10 days, selling the adaptable sectionals the
company is known for. “We have 200-square-
foot branded environments with our own
trained demo expert ready to sell you a $2,000
to $3,000 couch set,” says Chief Executive
Officer Shawn Nelson. Yet those simple set-
ups, which Lovesac has ramped up, starting
with 200 in 2017 and 500 last year, “bring in
very high revenues,” Nelson says. In fact, 10% of
Lovesac Co.’s annual sales come from pop-ups.
Just three years ago, pop-ups were mostly
used for three purposes: experiential market-
ing exploits, fashion-week stunts, or e-brands
making the leap to brick-and-mortar. The lat-
ter filled empty storefronts in New York’s SoHo