Pop-Up Shops
by Ariana Quihuiz
Photography by Marissa Wu
The popularity of online shopping has increased in recent years with the introduction of Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online sales during the year. People would rather buy clothes and shoes online than take the time to go out to a major retail store and search through racks, either because they are too busy or because they just don’t see anything worth braving the crowds. But now there is a new shopping craze that could change that. The introduction of the pop-up shop, a temporary store that exists only for a short amount of time selling exclusive merchandise, can urge shoppers everywhere to revive the old-fashioned way of creating a wardrobe.
Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle, a writer for Forbes.com, wrote a post titled “Pop-Up Retailers: Must Know Details to Make Yours a Success” where she said, “If you're planning a pop-up, you should also remember that a pop-up can exist within an existing store or in a temporary retail space. With no firm rules defining exactly how long a pop-up needs to be, where it has to happen or what terms make it successful vs. fail, it's no surprise pop-ups are popping up everywhere.”
“I think in today’s society, instant consumption is a really popular thing and pop-up shops are a unique product as it’s probably not going to be sold around a lot of people. So you’ll probably have a really unique item, and not a lot of people would be able to say they can buy something like that,” said Britany Opoku (CAS ’19).
Not only are designers like Lauren Conrad and Zendaya utilizing the new phenomenon of pop-up shops by creating their own pop-ups in various locations to promote their new fashion lines, but musicians are as well.
Musicians like Justin Bieber, Kanye West, G-Eazy and Big Sean have created pop-up shops in an effort to promote their tour merchandise. These pop-up shops are popular because they sell exclusive merchandise that can otherwise only be found on their tour. Kanye West used pop-up shops for his Pablo tour. He announced the locations 24 hours before launch, and they were only open for one weekend. Hundreds of people flocked to these highly exclusive stores to purchase merchandise. The popularity of his pop-up shop then encouraged other artists to follow suit.
Newbury Street has a few pop-up locations. There was a rotation of pop-up shops at 144 Newbury called The Shop throughout the months of October to January. There are also other pop-up shops in the area like The Third Piece, Newbury Handmade Market, Town Pool, Misha and Puff, DeWolfe Leather Goods and The Tie Bar.
“I think the purpose of a pop-up shop is to showcase different people in the fashion industry. There are a lot of clothes that you may not see in store, and it’s really unique clothing that speaks to your character,” said Erica Matos (Questrom ’19). “They also can showcase beginning designers.”
Head over to Newbury Street if you want to check out a pop-up shop for yourself, or keep your eyes open for any celebrity shops that come to Boston!