The Art of Using Pop-up Stores

It was in February 2004 that 'Comme des Garcons' opened the first pop-up in Berlin called "guerrilla store" or "propaganda store". This was followed by many others in Barcelona, Helsinki, Singapore, Stockholm, Ljubljana and Warsaw. Temporary boutiques where products are displayed on stands or low tables without sophisticated fixtures ... Boutiques often in non-commercial areas, in reaction against the hyper-commercial growth of city centres: ''The location will be chosen according to its atmosphere, historical connection, geographical situation away from established commercial areas or some other interesting feature", said the manifesto of the brand.
The shop in Berlin had all the features of a discount store as shown in this short film:

The concept has clearly evolved into a true "concept store" - with its merchandising codes, its "architecture". It has retained only the ephemeral temporality of the first "guerrilla store" and choice of locations:

Many other brands (Evian, Wrangler, Gap, Nokia, Levi's, Louis Vuitton, Target, to name a few) have since adopted the idea of pop-up stores, very often without due consideration, preferring to create an event rather than a means to strengthen the values of the brand.

I propose a typology of pop-up stores, showing how a brand can use pop-up stores as a powerful means of development:

1. A method to strengthen rarity: This is the privileged option of luxury brands. For 10 years they have been losing their lustre by multiplying boutiques and expanding their customer base. They have lost the sense of rarity - which is one of the fundamentals of luxury (see my post of ... concerning luxury in Japan) - believing that only the price and enhancing their images would justify their "luxury" positioning. The pop-up stores are a way of recreating rarity: a temporary shop offering an ephemeral and exclusive collection. Louis Vuitton is the brand that has best understood this aspect: the Japanese pop-up store with 'Comme des Garcons' (that's right) is a perfect example of this strategy: Open in Tokyo from 4th September 2008 to mid-December, one could find there a series of 6 limited-edition bags.
   
   
   
   
   
2. A means for the brand to make itself desired in a place where it was hitherto absent: This was the case of Comme des Garçons' "guerilla stores", it is the case of Target's "pop ups" called "Bullseye Bazaar". The retailer is absent from a number of large cities like New York and Chicago. Based on its 'chic & cheap' concept, it borrows the idea of rarity from the luxury market: designer products created by famous designers at discount prices, available but in limited series.
   
   
   
   
3. To test a new retailing concept: This is what Procter & Gamble is trying to do with the "Look Fab Studio", an itinerant pop-up store in Canada. All the Procter and Gamble beauty products are grouped together (Pantene / Covergirl / Olay / Nice'neasy / Crest / Venus) in a spot where "professional stylists" provide advice and offer skin care, colour, "mini makeovers".  All services are free and there are no products on sale. For the first time a global P & G Beauty offer can be found under one roof ... a precursor of future shops?
   
   
   
   
   
4. A means to launch a new product: This is the most common case…and I think the most uninteresting. A brand organizes an event - and instead of proposing a press conference or a "people" event, sets up (in addition) a temporary store where consumers can discover the new range. That is what Gap did in San Francisco in April 2009 to launch its 1969 Premium Denim Jeans range: a pop-up store open for … 5 months. Or Glaceau, for 10 days in New York to launch "VitaminWater10" ...
   
   

The pop-up stores will become commonplace: they can (with low costs) at the same time give visibility to the brand, create rarity and become part of an event. But few brands have enough sophistication to exploit them in keeping with their values...