Pop Up to the Extreme

Posted on 28. Jul, 2010 by Jon Bird in Bird’s Eye View, Retail Trends, Store Design, Westfield World Study Tour 2010

Trendwatching.com first coined the term “Pop Up Retail” in January 2004. As the trend forecasting website noted at the time; “if new products can come and go, why can’t the stores that display them do the same?” Since then, “Pop Up” has become a phenomenon, with a myriad of retailers opening temporary retail spaces. The Global Financial Crisis saw “Pop Up” shift up another gear, as vacancies on high streets and in shopping centres in the US and UK provided opportunities for forward-thinking retailers to pop up, make a quick statement, and then move on.

In New York City, Nike has recently taken the “Pop Up” model to the extreme, with their 255 Studio in Soho. In collaboration between Nike and cult brand No Mas, the 255 Studio is part art installation, part vintage store, part custom design lab. And the whole theme of the store changes with ferocious regularity.

When I was there in May, the store carried a retro baseball theme, with the title of “Hogar y Visitantes” (“Home and Visitors” in Spanish). The style and graphics of the store were all intended to evoke the feeling of a vintage baseball clothing shop from the 1950’s or 60’s. On the wall were black and white images of Chilean Little League players. Old baseball magazines featured as part of the merchandising. At the back of the store was a reproduction of a wooden baseball scoreboard from Santiago.

As a customer, you could either buy one of the funky t-shirts or sweatshirts off the rack, or design your own. If you went for the custom-design option, you could select elements of typography and icons from a tattoo-parlour-like menu on the wall. Then a designer/manufacturer would put together your t-shirt or sweatshirt while you waited. The store featured a laser cutter, chain stitch machine, sewing equipment, embroidery machine, vinyl cutter, heat transfer press, and direct-to-garment printing in house.

In many ways, the “Hogar y Visitantes” store is at the cutting edge of concept retail. “Customisation”, “collaboration”, “vintage” and “authenticity” are all major trends right now…all part of a customer drive for “real” experiences in a mass-produced, cookie-cutter retail world. But the 255 Studio also recognises that customers want constant newness. So after only a few weeks trading under a baseball theme, the entire store was switched over to embrace the football World Cup.

The “ready-made and custom-design sportswear” idea stayed the same (pick your soccer team, make your supporter’s gear), but the fit-out changed entirely. As part of the new theme, No Mas created an A3 “Victory Zine” featuring iconic football moments and collectables.

There’s a lot to like – and a lot to learn – about Nike’s 255 Studio. Whether there is a commercial gain or not from this store, the buzz created would have made it worth the effort.

For more on the 255 Studio, check out the interview with No Mas designers at http://www.thefader.com/2010/06/10/style-tv-255-studio-no-mas-x-nike-sportwear/.

Jon Bird is CEO of specialist retail marketing agency IdeaWorks (www.ideaworks.com.au). Email jon.bird@ideaworks.com.au.

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