Gather Pop Up Shop

Posted: Jan 15 2016

Sweet Harriet teamed up with twelve other stellar local designers to host a pop up shop for two weeks over Christmas. In hopes of helping other designers, reps or artisans who are considering a temporary retail shop, here are Six Tips for Success that we learned along the way.

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#1: LOCATION. LOCATION. LOCATION.

Choose where you are going to pop your shop carefully. Take into consideration the surrounding neighbourhood, foot traffic, parking, neighbours, and the condition of the empty retail space. Location can determine the success or failure of your shop. Yes, your committed clientele will support you where ever you go, but if you'd like to gain exposure & sell more, it's best to choose your space wisely. We were very choosey in picking our space. We chose an adorable pop up shop location (Little Mountain Shop); although it had only been available as a temporary retail location for 6 months it already generated a great buzz. We were lucky enough to secure this valuable retail space right before Christmas in a great neighbour of Vancouver. Main street has lots of foot traffic and is known as a destination shopping district in Vancouver for the type of shopper that wants to avoid the mall scene and gain access to unique, handmade locally made designs. We found, rented and paid for the space quickly and easily via http://thisopenspace.com

#2 : PRODUCT DISPLAYS

I highly recommend choosing a space that provides a lot of retail ready display fixtures already in the space. Little Mountain Shop's rental fee included a built in peg display wall, lit shelving unit, two changing rooms, large mirrors, beautiful lighting, and sound system. This makes setting up shop immensely easier. Otherwise you need to find/buy/rent these items and haul them into and out of the space. And take into consideration that product display is the difference between a boutique shopping experience and a bargain centre/craft fair/ swap meet or garage sale. The feel of your space & display of your retail products adds to the intrinsic value potential customers place on your designs and the willingness/desire to buy.

#3: PARTNER WITH STRONG BRANDS

We specifically chose brands that we knew and/or admired, loved their designs and took into consideration the variety & quality of goods offered in our shop. Make sure you partner with brands that are of a similar quality and has some similarity in sales demographic. If executed well, the cross promotion on all the designer's social media can benefit everyone involved. I often get questioned on my eagerness to invite other jewelry designers into my sales avenues. I firmly believe there is more than enough to go around; collaboration is the new competition. All brands get exposure to new potential clientele and it feels so much better to learn and grow together than to be seeing other designers and business as a threat to your success.

#4 : HAVE ALL $$$ AGREEMENTS IN WRITING

There were three of us planning this shop and we invited 10+ other designers on board with us, so clear communication between everyone was key in avoiding disagreements over sales and profits. My best advice is to get it all in writing beforehand so there is a paper (email) trail if there are any disagreements over the sales and profits.

We provided two options to designers: pay an equal portion of the total shop expenses and keep 100% of your profits OR do a 60/40 consignment deal so 40% of all your sales goes towards paying all the fees of running the shop. In hindsight, I would not have offered the consignment option as it created a lot more work with inventory and cash out at the end of the week.

Most of the designers that paid the flat rate also showed up to help set up and run the boutique. This should also be agreed upon beforehand. Set up, display space and organization of the shop can be challenging when everyone in the room is a designer! And a predetermined shop schedule is beneficial in making sure no one gets burnt out running the shop for too many consecutive hours.

#5 : INVENTORY AND CASH SYSTEM

This was a mistake we learned the hard way, so do not do as we did! We did not have a SKU system for keeping track of the inventory. We did not double check the inventory we received from the designers ahead of time as most of it was dropped off on the opening day (which was mayhem!). We hand wrote all of the sales in an invoice book and individually input them into an excel spreadsheet. Which doesn't sound too bad, but being there were numerous people working the shop & everyone described items differently, there was plenty of room for error. Plus a lot of designers did not have the prices listed on each item, so it became a real mess at the end of the two weeks when it came to paying all the designers. In fact I am sure we lost money due to our lack of systemization.

All participating designers must provide you with a inventory list, that you double check when you receive the goods.
Make sure each item has the price clearly marked on it.
Have a pre prepared spreadsheet or sku system in place before you set up shop
Use an app or sales processing system that works in conjunction with your inventory system. There are many apps for this; squareup or shopify for example has the capabilities to process credit cards and track inventory

This simple pre-pop inventory organization will save you a lot of time and headaches when the frenzy of your shop is over. Trust me!

#6 : BLOGGER PARTY

Have an opening party and invite all your favourite bloggers to help generate a buzz online. You will only be there temporarily so you want shoppers to feel a great urgency due to your impermanence and make the effort to come shop in your boutique. This impermanece principle is what makes craft markets so successful. The shopper feels a stronger impulse to buy because they don't know if they will ever see you or your great product again. Whereas in a permeant retail shop, the buyer knows they can go home think about it and come back next week if they still want to make the purchase.

We provided a gift incentive to the bloggers. Most of the designers contributed a small item. Plus we were sponsored but two great craft breweries (thanks to Untapped.ca) so the bloggers also got some complimentary beverages to increase the good vibrations. They left happy and impressed and wrote about our sweet boutique to all their faithful followers. A basketful of promotional goods and a free beer is a small price to pay for valuable press exposure.

Bonus Tip: DOG FRIENDLY SHOP

Seriously dogs are the best. They are instant therapy. Make your shop dog (& baby stroller) friendly. Meaning large aisles, breakables up high and treats behind the counter.

This last tip won't make or break your retail success but it will add to your JOY levels & seriously isn't that what it's all about?!!

Happy Popping!

xoxo Sweet Harriet

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