Love of travel inspires pop up shop

 winchesterWendy Smith from Winchester has turned her love of travel into a business venture by opening a pop up shop in Stockbridge Road.

 With a launch party at Kathmandu and TV travel presenter Charlie Ottley cutting the ribbon, the shop is sure to be a success.

Wendy said: “I’m selling goods from places like Nepal, India and Morocco. I travel extensively and have found my own sources - families I have got to know since travelling.  It started when I would bring things back and friends said they liked them.”

Pop in and take a look if you’re in the Winchester area.

Cocomaya pops up at Heathrow

Chocolatier and artisan baker Cocomaya is opening a pop up shop in time for Easter at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5.  The shop will sell a range of delicious morsels such as cakes, pastries, sandwiches, chocolate bars and truffles alongside hot and cold drinks.

The pop up space within the terminal is designed to bring small artisan brands into the airport. Cocomaya is the first retailer to launch int he space and will be open until the summer.

Pop up housing advice shop

Coventry law centreThe Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre has been home to the most recent pop up in Coventry – an advice shop to answer questions on debt, money management, energy saving and of course benefits as changes to the current system are likely to leave some out of pocket.

Janet Gurney, Welfare and Benefits Adviser at the Coventry Law Centre, said: “Disabled people are particularly hard-hit by the changes. Despite this, many people are still uninformed about the potential changes to their benefits. Even today, some of the people coming in don’t know anything about the changes and are quite shocked at some of the implications.” She added that a lot of people in low-paid work do not realise that they too could see their benefits cut.

“We know that it’s just going to be dire. Some people will be very seriously affected,” she said. The shop will be open from 10am-3pm until tomorrow.

Steam

steamSteam, a new pop up restaurant in London’s Covent Garden, opened for the day promising the holy grail of dieters everywhere – a calorie neutral meal! Between courses, diners were invited to partake in stretching classes, complete dining workouts and even vibrating seat pads (which apparently encourage your body to use up calories).

You may assume that a calorie neutral meal would be less then appetizing, but according to Steam you would be wrong! Frederick Forster of The Boundary was the chef hired to create the menu which included scallops, fillet of beef and chorizo all cooked using only steam to keep the calorie levels as low as possible.

High tech kitchen equipment makers Miele were the brains behind the 13th March pop up, which they launched to promote their range of steam-cooking appliances.

Pop up boutique in Potters Bar

willow foundationTwo pubs have raised £1,500 with a pop up boutique at The Brookmans Pub in Potters Bar by selling donated items from staff and customers of The White Horse in Hatching Green in aid of The Willow Foundation.

Lauren Bailey, who organised the sale, said: “The community were so supportive of the event and I’d like to thank everyone who played a part.  The Willow Foundation is an amazing local charity which does so much to support young adults living with life-threatening illnesses.”

1D World pop up shop

World famous pop group One Direction have announced that their fans will soon get the chance to enter their very own ‘1D World’ in their brand new pop up shop – the first to open in the UK. The 5,000 sq ft store is in Leeds and will open on 23rd March, selling exclusive merchandise.

There will be special offers and competitions run in branch and the shop is expecting fans to arrive from all over the country.

The machine that is the 1D World brand has already seen thousands of fans pass though its stores in worldwide locations and this shop in Trinity Leeds Shopping Centre is sure to appeal to the loyal British fan base.

Emergency measures to reverse the decline of London’s high streets?

London AssemblyLondon Assembly’s Economy Committee has suggested a number ideas to reverse the decline in London’s high streets, including renegotiating rents and slowing the spread of pawnbrokers and betting shops.

The Assembly said that in 2000, a third of retail spending took place in out of town centres or on the Internet. By 2011 this had increased to 42% – and the number of empty shops in London has increased in the last two years by 5% to 3,400. The report also warns the vacancy increase is contributing to the decline, discouraging shoppers and leading to the closure of other retailers who might otherwise have survived.

The Committee has called for London-wide support to renegotiate rents, a new register of owners of vacant shops so landlords can be easily traced and pop up and interim uses for empty shops.

Andrew Dismore, Chair of the Economy Committee, said: “Our traditionally diverse and interesting high streets are blighted by the number of empty shops which are a deterrent to customers, discourage further investment, and create an air of decline.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said more than £250m was being invested to help bring vacant properties back into use, revitalise shop fronts and to support trade and generate jobs.

“The Mayor welcomes this report and will continue to work with the boroughs, government and business groups to help unlock the economic potential of London’s high streets,” added the spokesperson.

Donations at an all time high for charity pop up

childrens opportunity centreCharity workers have been amazed at the level of donations for a new pop up charity shop.  The Opportunity Box - located in St John’s Street, Coleford - is supporting the work of the Children’s Opportunity Centre.

The shop’s organizer, Georgina Ford, said: “We have been absolutely overwhelmed at the support we’ve had.  There has been so many donations – anything you could imagine someone wanting to donate, we’ve got it.”

The shop has been donated for free for the month by a generous local landlord.

If you are in the area, pop in and take a look.

 

Made in Northamptonshire still going strong

Made in NorthamptonshireTrading for just over three months, the Made in Northamptonshire pop up store in St Giles Street, Northampton is still going strong. Helen Senogles, who oversees the project, explained: “We opened two weeks before Christmas and we have the lease for nine months. It is a showcase for all local artists, designers and crafts people.”

a\The project has been supported by a range of groups which includes Creative Northants, the University of Northampton, the Business Improvement district and the Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership

Helen said: “Creative Northants put out an advert two weeks before Christmas and we have had more than 200 artists and designers already. We took that down to 40 for the first month and since then we have taken on more artists from across the county – Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby – and they have all sorts of skills, from contemporary to traditional. There are so many different artists and so many different people producing things in the county.”

She added: “We had an amazing Christmas and smashed every target and, now we are growing to accommodate different targets, we are holding drop-in sessions with Creative Northants. We have until August and then we will have to see how the project develops from there.”

Parsons Bakery transforming their pop up into a permanent fixture

Parsons BakeryBristol based Parsons Bakery has revealed that their temporary site in Bedminster, which opened on 15th December, has been trading at a profit and the company now wants to continue operating the shop.

Parsons Bakery is a family-run chain of 34 retail stores. They were originally approached by Community Regeneration Group Way Out West to open the pop up.

Nick Parsons, Managing Director at Parsons Bakery, said: “The Group surveyed the surrounding residents to see which stores they valued the most and would like to see reopen on their high street, and a local bakery came in at the top of their list. So the Community Group asked any local landlords who had empty properties if they would be interested in letting for a pop-up shop.” He added that his company could not justify spending its normal new store refurbishment costs of £70,000, but set a £5,000 budget to transform the 250 sq ft shop.

Parsons explained: “The store has a limited product range which features all of the normal bakery classics…but has just a few options in each category so we can offer all our ‘best sellers’ and also minimise any waste. We were clear and honest from the outset that this pop up had to generate a profit and was not a charity cause. We have been delighted with the results. The store trades profitably and above our initial expectations, and we are exploring all options for continuing at the site after the three month period runs out. The local residents love having a baker back on their street and have been very supportive – at the end of the day if they use it, it will stay trading.”

We hear a lot about support for startup companies wanting to trade from a pop up store. This is a great reminder that established businesses can benefit from the pop up model and play a really important part in regenerating our high streets in doing so.