As the UK high street has been struggling over the past few years shop owners are now coming up with new ways to entice customers to visit their stores. A few months ago we posted an article discussing how a report carried out by the professional services company PriceWaterHouseCoopers showed that the UK public are now looking for the UK high street to provide them with “leisure and services” instead of just retail.

This could be one of the reasons that pop-up shops are becoming increasingly popular recently, and we expect that in the next few months a number of these retailers will appear offering Christmas goods. So why are these shops faring so well in the current environment? In this article we look at everything you need to know about the pop-up shop phenomenon:

The History of Pop-Up Shops

Contrary to popular belief, pop-up shops have actually been around for a substantial amount of time, and a number of companies that sell niche products often only rent out a shop space for a small period during the year. One of the first companies to try the pop-up shop method was based in America and specialised in selling limited edition niche stock. Once this stock sold out they would close their stores and then re-open them once they received more products.

After a while, they decided that instead of just temporarily closing stores when they ran out of stock they could permanently close them and go on to set up a new one in a different location. They began opening pop-up shops back in 1999 and to this day are still trading, showing that their method proved popular among a wide range of customers.

Common Pop-up Shops

As previously mentioned, companies which sell niche products have already used the pop-up shop method for a number of years, such as Christmas shops and Halloween shops. The fact that demand for Christmas and Halloween products is only limited to a very short amount of time during the year means that it doesn’t make financial sense for these types of shops to be open all year round. However, as demand is so high during certain periods these businesses can make a substantial amount of money.

Recently, clothing retailers have started to create their own pop-up shops as well as individuals looking to sell their products that don’t have enough money to fully launch their businesses. There are also those that use pop-up shops for events such as art shows, parties and even networking opportunities. As the popularity of the pop-up shop has increased the amount of companies using them to promote their wares has risen too, and each tend to personalise them with their own style.

Starting your own Pop-Up Shop

We have seen a number of news articles over the past few months lamenting at the fact that on a large percentage of the UK’s high streets you will often see empty shop fronts. Some of the largest retailers in the UK have had to close their doors in recent times, and there have not been enough new retailers to purchase the empty lots. This is where pop-up shops can be extremely beneficial, as they only require the shop owner to pay rent for a short period of time, and the high street they’re based on can also benefit from more business.

If you are thinking of starting your own pop-up shop the first thing you will need to think about is what will give your shop something special that will make people want to visit. When it comes to decorating a pop-up shop most people spend a large amount of time making sure the displays and windows are enticing to customers, as this is their main form of advertising. It is also essential you make sure that you fill out all the required paperwork and cover yourself with shop insurance before opening your doors, otherwise if any accidents occur you could find yourself making a loss.

Pop-up shops are a great way to either start or boost your business and can even help improve your company’s reputation in your chosen market. Don’t forget that if you change your mind and want to keep your shop as a permanent fixture that you will need to adapt your shop insurance and your rent payments well in advance!