News
POP-UP CULTURE
January 11, 2011
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| Move over, LudoBites, and make way for another type of pop-up: the pop-up shop, an example of which is the new Daiso store atAlameda South Shore Center. The giant Japanese retailer of mass-produced, low-priced merchandise opened a 1,400 SF store in mid-November. Yesterday we chatted with Cornish & Carey SVP Julie Taylor (snapped by C&C’s Rachel Pagan), who handles leasing for the center on behalf of owner Jamestown. She tells us Daiso’s pop-up has been extremely successful, doing as much business in the Alameda location as Daiso does on Market Street in San Fran in a store twice the size. The retailer sells everything from toys and school supplies to kitchen and tabletop items. |
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| Everything’s from Japan, “so the design and packaging of their products are things we haven’t seen here.” Julie defines a pop-up retailer as someone who moves in on a temporary basis to take advantage of a seasonal opportunity, or to experiment with a location and decide whether to go long-term. A pop-up retailer usually can use the existing space in its current condition, fixture and merchandise quickly, and open its doors within a couple of weeks. Also, a pop-up retailer will promote itself heavily because “it’s new in town and will want to announce its arrival.” |
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| Another example of a pop-up is the Spirit Halloween store that operated at the center in October. Julie notes temporary retailers in shopping malls aren’t exactly new. (How else would we get our fill of Hickory Farms sausages and See’s Candy during the holidays?) But they are new in non-mall environments—even Toys R Us and Targetand doing ’em—as retailers seek new ways to reach customers effectively and try out new locations. Julie’s got pop-up spaces available at Alameda South Shore Center from 1,400 SF up to 12kSF and is in discussions with what will be the center’s third pop-up store. |
