PopUp Republic

Pop-Ups Why They Are Becoming Permanent

Our crystal ball was fairly opaque just a few years ago when it came to prognosticating the future of the pop-up industry. We were in the midst of a maelstrom—the Internet was exploding, new software was coming out daily, smartphones were becoming the new computer of choice. Big stores were shrinking, big malls were expanding. New buzzwords and phrases such as “social media marketing” and “omnichannel” were upending business models as if there were no tomorrow—and for some business models, it would become clear that, in fact, there was going to be no tomorrow. Adapt, adapt quickly, or you’ll be gone. Blockbuster, Radio Shack, you’d best be looking over your shoulder.

As retailers and food purveyors were trying to assess what was going on all around them and reacting on the fly to new circumstances they were totally ill-prepared to encounter, there was a reversion to what had worked best in the past, but with accommodations for the new facts on the ground. Our abilities to foresee the future of pop-ups were helped when we started to define what, in fact, constituted a pop-up.

Pop-ups are identifiable mostly by their temporary natures. It might be for a few moments, it might be seasonal, it might even be for a longer period, but pop-up shops, pop-up restaurants, and pop-up events became known for their one-off characteristics. They came, they conquered, and they went. There was no need for big buildouts. There was no mandate to have long-term ...