Lush pop up shops

Another major brand has opened pop up stores to take advantage of increased trade over the festive season.  Lush, the handmade cosmetics retailer, has occupied two prime shops in Cardiff and Liverpool city centres on temporary terms.

The store in St Davids, Cardiff opened its doors on 24th November.  The beginning of December saw the opening of the second pop up shop in Liverpool’s Met Quarter.  Both stores are due to close in early January. As well as selling Lush’s usual product range, the pop up shops will showcase new launches including a fine fragrance line and a Christmas 2010 range.

Pop ups are good for small business, says ICEAW

Opening pop up shops can be an excellent strategy for retailers looking to innovate in uncertain times, says the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The report from ICAEW examines some of the advantages of pop up leasing to retailers, especially to new and independent businesses.  Clive Lewis, Head of Enterprise for ICAEW, explains:

“For small businesses in particular pop ups make commercial sense, allowing them to try out new locations or formats without committing to an expensive permanent outlet.  With more units standing empty, retailers are in a stronger position to get cheaper letting rates and landlords are also desperate to fill space.”

The report, which mentions recent pop up enterprises by brand Marmite and garden centre Notcutts, concludes that “advances in technology mean setting up and operating a pop up is now much simpler and does not require a high level of capital.”

Popupspace.com – as seen on TV

 We were pleased to be asked by the BBC to talk about the place of pop up shops on the UK’s high streets.  Filmed as part of the BBC’s ‘Britian’s Changing High Street’ series, you may have seen us on the news or the Inside Out programme or heard us on the radio over the last week.

The programme also featured one of our clients – an independent retailer who currently sells online and is looking for a pop up shop to launch a new product range onto the high street.