SUSO

Pop-up shops: finite niche boutiques, or quick-fix marketing gimmicks?

W / RIA-PAL

Something intriguing has been happening in luxury and cutting-edge fashion retail during the last few years. It is the concept of the 'pop-up shop' - a stall, rough-hewn store or a shop within a shop, selling limited edition or hard to find goods. It must be exciting, edgy, eccentric – and above all, temporary.

There has been Chanel at Dover Street Market (open for a mere two weeks), Banksy's Santa's Ghetto on Oxford Street (twenty-three days), and graphic art gallery/shop KIN near Carnaby Street (one month). A natural extension of the pop-up shop has been the pop-up club, bar and restaurant. Witness Everything Must Go, the Heavenly Social's Soho bar which only stayed open for a month, and super-arty Flash, a 'restaurant space and installation in its own right' at the Royal Academy, running for eighty days until January the 19th.

The pop-up shop is the perfect way for a company to get their brand known to a wider audience, or to re-enforce its coolness, with minimal cost and maximum publicity. A short-term lease is fairly cheap, you don't have to bother too much about the decoration, and as the shops have a limited lifespan, risk-taking is more frequent, resulting in something truly creative. And of course people are fickle - what was cool becomes staid in a matter of weeks, and then it's time for the next new thing. All that remains of the pop-up whatever is a beautiful memory: the stuff of legends.

Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons was one of the first practitioners of the idea, opening their first 'guerilla store' in Berlin in 2004. The idea was for the shop to open for one year only, away from the fashionable areas of the city, with the interiors done as cheaply as possible. They are still continuing today, and have sprung up in cities as diverse as L.A, Warsaw and Beirut.

So, what prevents pop-up shops such as these from being just an upmarket version of that strange little shop on the high street which sells German biscuits alongside dog shampoo for six months, before a Subway comes and takes its place? In an interview with The Times, environmental psychologist Paco Underhill says "Think of it as theatrical retailing. That fascinating line between commerce and fine art has suddenly become really fuzzy. These stores are there to generate buzz. They play the media in a way that most merchants can't."

Many of these shops feature art installations, DJs and exclusive parties. Joint collaborations between high-end fashion retailers are frequent, and allow one brand's coolness to rub off onto their less fashionable partner (edgy Parisian store Colette setting up in the New York Gap flagship), or for a more powerful brand to give its support to a smaller one (menswear shop B-store's residency in Selfridges).

Pop-up shops can also be a powerful promotional tool. Last September, residents of several American cities like New York, Chicago and Philadelphia were treated to a pop-up news kiosk promoting the new series of murderous TV program Dexter, complete with mocked-up magazines and real chocolate bars. The children's charity Barnado's held a successful pop-up Christmas shop in the West End in 2007. And of course, who could forget the U.S Potato Board's week-long shop in New York, using Mr. Potato Head to promote the fact that the spud contains more potassium than a banana?

As with all crazes, you just have to exercise a little caution. Some pop-up shops are in reality fancy sample sales or just chances to get rid of old stock (Swatch at the Royal Exchange for one day only selling 'classic' watches?). Boring corporations have jumped on the bandwagon too, such as Wal-mart launching a 'fashion essentials' collection in Miami (two days), and I'm sure most people have something better to do than to visit a Pepsi store celebrating the launch of its new logo (one day).

However, it's hard for most pop-up shops to not be entertaining. It's new, it's limited edition, Jodie Harsh is DJ-ing, there's cracks in the ceiling! So, go forth and discover the pop-up phenomenon. Just don't get too attached to that amazing temporary bar made of icicles.