To Pop-Up Shop, or not? (During Pandemic)

If it's a decent product I think you'd be better off spending your time getting the product into JL or Selfridges etc. The association of a high end retailer will help establish your brand as such more than a one off shop. You could sweeten the deal with such retailer by producing some instore stand to promote the item on certain days where you'd supply yourself or others to perform demonstrations.
 
thenewoc said:
If it's a decent product I think you'd be better off spending your time getting the product into JL or Selfridges etc. The association of a high end retailer will help establish your brand as such more than a one off shop. You could sweeten the deal with such retailer by producing some instore stand to promote the item on certain days where you'd supply yourself or others to perform demonstrations.
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You say it as if it's easy getting a product in to JL or Selfridges. While I agree with what your saying, its no easy feat.
 
Looking back at the OP's post. Why not sell it online, do you absolutely need a store? Sell it online and you will have lower overheads, reach a wider audience and be less impacted by the current effects of covid. Setup a site and run some marketing campaigns.
 
Squidward said:
You say it as if it's easy getting a product in to JL or Selfridges. While I agree with what your saying, its no easy feat.
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No not at all but if your time is taken up trying to flog a dead horse in your own unknown store you won't have the time to dedicate at cracking the route into the established high end retailers. Depending on the product would it not also be better to produce some quality POS / stand that could either be used in a retail environment or for a trade show. You might need to get it into the independents first and then show from it's popularity that it's something the bigger players are missing out on. Maybe you could then do a time limited exclusive colour for the bigger retailers in return for a substantial volume order. Also get it on Amazon and Ebay as you need more exposure than what your own website can provide until you are known.
 
Depends on the product but Birmingham is unlikely to come out of tier 2 restrictions any time soon and will more likely end up in tier 3. If we don't go in to a national lockdown again those tier 3 restrictions will get tighter, so your footfall won't be great.

However if your product is high end with a decent profit margin and you have customers wanting to see it already then that could work. Richer Sounds for example are doing store visits by appointment at the moment which helps keep the timewasters away as every customer that touches your products mean cleaning time for you.

If the costs mean you need to sell a lot to break even then you may be better of putting the money in to online marketing as online retail is going to be much bigger than normal this Christmas, then try again sometime next year. However if the product is something customers aren't necessarily searching for as its new then a pop up shop might still be the way but haggle on the price.
 
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NVP said:
Hi All,

After a bit of advice please.


I've been working on my own business this year, and I had plans to launch my products in a Pop-Up Shop location on Link Street in Birmingham - for those unaware this is an internal walk-way of shops between Birmingham New Street Train Station /Grand Central Shopping Complex and the Bullring Shopping Centre.

Decent location I thought, and timing wise it'll be the end of November so good for Xmas shoppers, however... COVID!


I've not been out on foot much during this pandemic so I'm unaware of whether I would still see significant foot traffic, or if it's reduced to a level where having a store en route is pointless.


Any advice from those still out and about would be really appreciated.


Thanks :)
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I know this walk way well where you mean. If I recall there is one of those Japanese bubble shops that has been there ages and another shop that sells the Edison type light bulbs. If I'm completely honest they all seem really quiet whenever I've walked past and imagine the footfall is smaller this year with less people going into town, also the big John Lewis in Grand Central is closing as well. I might be completely wrong though and maybe they do get busy just my observation that they all seem really quiet. What's the prices of rent like? Where's the other location?

Have you considered the pop up market stalls in the affluent parts surrounding Brum like Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield?? They all seem pretty busy and usually do pop up markets once every month.
 
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Potentially worth also looking at Solihull, a good mate of mine owns a pub and cocktail bar in Mell Square and I know they're usually quite eager to get people into Solihull so might be worth a look - certainly it's quite an affluent area with a fair few people opting to head there over Birmingham.
 
Hi Guys, sorry for the delayed reply - busy day, just got in! I'll have to digest all the previous posts and respond tomorrow.


To kill any further suspense...

I wished to have the pop-up shop to launch my brand of electric scooters, and also advertise the brands sale as "exclusively sold by" my online escooter shop - which sells lots of models in addition to my own brand, they're separate businesses - to raise awareness of both the scooter brand and the online store, as well as selling the scooters.


Location wise Link Street was perfect being between the train station and the shopping centre as public transport commuters are a big target.

However yes, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, John Lewis or even potentially HoF with their "new direction" are also potential avenues to approach as an exclusive brand for them. Otherwise small-stall pop-ups in rich areas as has been suggested is a good plan too.


It's going to be a tough begining either way. Wish me luck x
 
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Good luck.

I've seen several people using them around here (expensive suburban part of Surrey if that helps to understand the demographic). I think winter might be a big factor as it's cold now. But definitely worth a try. Good luck again.
 
I didn't think you could use these on the road or pavement if you owned the scooter?

Can't you only use them on pavements & cycle lanes if you hire the scooter?

Doesn't it then also have to be hired from a licensed / participating business?

Couldn't this all end up just being a trial for hiring that gets canned?
 
Good luck dude, you got this :cool:

Have you got all the necessary certifications and insurances in place? I'm assuming these are rebranded Chinese models? Would be crap if one of them caught fire whilst charging and burnt someone's house down, these are all things you need to be prepared for and careful of.

Drop me a trust with your site, I'm rather intrigued :)
 
How much are they, ish?

How 'pop up' will your shop appear?

I'll be honest, I'd be reluctant to spend hundreds on something if I didn't have some trust in the retailer being there in a few weeks.

Would you be better off concentrating on online sales, but using the time you intend to spend selling physically doing marketing/ awareness projects.

Go to places that people might be using them if they bought them, and set up giving people trials?
 
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thenewoc said:
As I suspected, It’s illegal to use them on public roads, on pavements, in cycle lanes and in pedestrian-only areas if you own it.

This effectively makes owning one pointless so you'd be better off devising a rental approach which would then allow people to use them legally other than only on private land.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48106617
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/advice/are-electric-scooters-legal.html
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They arent legal yet but people still buy them, don't know if the retailer needs to make them aware or not though.

If you are making your own then I'd use your technical knowledge and being UK based as your main selling points. If you don't mind being on camera then some vids showing off your expertise on youtube / instagram etc might get you some attention.

Being UK based is good as well as so many of these things come from dodgy chinese sellers, if I were buying one I'd want one that I could trust.
 
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