Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Urban Pop-Up Shops

Idea

Come up with a solid, innovative idea. What will your shop have that others don’t? Our thirst for newness and excitement has no limit. See all those boutique salons for dogs? We’re not just talking about traditional retail shopping. There are pop-up taco stands, bars, lingerie shops among everything else you can imagine.

[pullquote]What do your customers care about? If you can answer that question, you certainly can find an angle for your promotional event.[/pullquote]

“In any business, the minute your competition has a new product or innovation that you lack, you suddenly will become in danger of going out of business,” says Nicholas Wen Shea, owner of NWS Promotions, an online custom apparel shop and Sky Trading Co., a gift shop at 229 Spadina Ave. Toronto.

Budget

Sure, running a temporary business is a lot cheaper than a permanent one, but it’s not free. How much will the rent be? Will you hire temporary staff, or will you round up volunteers?

How much are you willing to invest, and how much do you expect to earn? It’s also important to remember that sales can exceed one’s expectations; but many times, it can be the other way around.

“When you don’t budget carefully, it is especially likely for a small business to fail,” says Shen. “When sales are unpredictably slow…small businesses tend to struggle more because they don’t have the cash-flow to maintain rent and overhead expenses.”

Network

“Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…And you need to know certain people. Certain shops will put the ads on their walls,” says Faustino.

Building a network is important, whether it’s through social media, or simply in person by attending other similar events.

Image courtesy of Pop Culture Geek via Flickr

“I definitely met a lot of other vendors, and you get a lot of network,” says Faustino, who participated in City of Craft’s pop-up event this year. “There’s a small community, where people will find out [about your event].”

Promote

So, you’ve made some friends through networking. Now what? Why would they want to actually show up? …right, the party.

“We do one day for a pop up shop, and we’re sponsored by Hennessey,” says Jalloh, the owner of Get Fresh Company. “So there’s free liquor all day, and people can come out.”

Booze isn’t the only way to promote your pop-up business. It’s all about making it into a special event. What do your customers care about? If you can answer that question, you certainly can find an angle for your promotional event.

City of Craft, for example, is all about supporting the crafty community of the city.

“A lot of people in Toronto really support the local artists,” says Faustino. “The energy of the show is great.”

Julienne Bay is a j-student from Toronto. As an avid traveller, coffee-drinker and documentary junkie, she’s constantly trying to figure out what it means to be human.

Source
Jebril “Fresh” Jalloh, Get Fresh Company
Rosalyn Faustino
Jaya Kahlon, Sauvage
Gay Stephenson
Julie Song, University of Toronto student
Nicholas Wen Shea, SKY Trading Co./NWS Promotion
Image courtesy of Across & Down via Flickr
Image courtesy of Loozrboy via Flickr
Image courtesy of Pop Culture Geek via Flickr