PopUp Republic

Staffing The Most Important (and Overlooked) Aspect of a Pop-Up

The pop-up universe is still vastly populated by artisanal merchants, be they aspiring chefs, designers, collectors, instructors, and makers of all kinds. They’ve been joined by well-known national brands, big-name celebrities, and the leading shopping malls.

All of the above have discovered pop-ups and how they can be used to generate income, promote upcoming events, and further enhance the reputations of brands and performers. Pop-ups entail several unique requirements—especially given their short durations—including finding the right venue; taking care of necessary insurance, permits, and logistics; arranging for point-of-sale and inventory tracking systems; and putting the word out and creating a “buzz” about the forthcoming pop-up. All of these requirements are dealt with elsewhere in this book.

But another necessity is also a prerequisite and is often the hardest to arrange, especially if you don’t know where to look. That’s the area of “staffing” the pop-up.

Pop-up staffing will generally fall into three broad categories—retail, dining, and events—categories that happen to coincide with how we divide up the pop-up directory on our website. While the thought might be “Hey, I only need a couple of people to work for a day or maybe a week, so I don’t need to look for anyone with a lot of experience or relevant skills,” that should not be your attitude when wanting to pull off a successful pop-up.

Staffing ...