Pop-up shops

Do you have available retail or commercial space to share?

Pop-ups are retail or commercial businesses and experiences that are established for a short period of time at temporary venues. This concept is popular overseas and is an emerging trend in Australia.

Pop-ups allow shopping centres and businesses to create unique environments to engage customers, generate a feeling of relevancy, test markets, diversify products, contribute to lowering overheads and assist in filling vacancies in a difficult economic climate. Pop-ups provide an opportunity to creatively use retail or commercial space.

Benefits for operators or tenants

Access a new audience

• Take a product from online to the real world.
• Take a product beyond the immediate catchment of an existing premises.

Test a business idea or reduce overheads

• Test your product with less risk - that is, not locked into a long-term lease.

Expand your market

• Target a specific new audience in a new location.
• Promote your brand to a broader audience.

Benefits for property owners or agents

Activate and promote space for lease

• Activate a space and show how it can be used effectively, and promote the fact the space is available for lease.
• Provide a creative and flexible response to commercial arrangements for using the space.

Maintain your asset while waiting for new tenants

• Pop-up operators look after the space and make it more presentable to future tenants.
• When a space is in use there is less chance of vandalism.

Promote your asset as contributing to community renewal

• Pop-up shops can be an advertising opportunity for the property owner or agent who wishes to show they are supporting the local business community.

Take your product or service to market

You can also trial your product or service at the following markets:

• Camberwell Sunday Market
• Hawthorn Makers Market

Pop-up pilot project

In 2012-13, we received Streetlife grant funding for a pilot project to support and re-energise vacant spaces by establishing pop-up shops in our local shopping centres.

As part of the project, we researched the benefits of pop-ups, types of pop-ups, governance models and best practice examples.

We identified pop-up opportunities and ran a pilot trial.

As a result, we developed a framework for operating pop-ups in vacant shops, public spaces and at markets and events. This provides useful information to assist potential pop-up operators.