Pop-Ups Drive Excitement and Foretell Brand Demand

What’s better than a day of shopping? How about a day of shopping where an unexpected pop-up shows up and allows you to experience a brand that you might only have heard of through word-of-mouth, visited in another country, or seen on TikTok? Pop-ups inject excitement into your day and help to bring even more brand awareness. One location that has seen its share of pop-ups is at the Building at470 Broadway in Soho, NY. On one of the premier shopping streets in the world, this location is as chameleon-like as the legendary Linda Evangelista in its ability to take on different characters. Aldo originally held the lease to this location until October 2023, although the company filed for bankruptcy in May of that year. But in 2024, this location was utilized for various pop-ups, among them a Primark one-day pop-up during New York Fashion Week, and a Halara weeklong pop-up for the DTC athleisure brand.

Halara uses machine learning and customer feedback to shape its production that takes place in Asia. One of Halara’s goals is to use this just-in-time manufacturing to operate on a nearly zero inventory level, thus contributing to global sustainability. Having a pop-up can serve multiple purposes, such as getting immediate customer feedback, testing the waters in what can be high-rent locations, and of course the brand awareness that is generated by being in highly-trafficked corridors.

Another more well-known brand that also dipped its toes in pop-ups before treading into permanent brick-and-mortar is Skims, Kim Kardashian’s line of shapewear. After successfully debuting at Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, the company began experimenting with pop-up stores. Their first pop-up was at The Grove in LA in April 2021. Another pop-up that opened to much fanfare with an array of Rockettes wearing Skims was at Rockefeller Center in summer of 2023.

During the time period of the Skims activation from May 16-29, Rockefeller Center saw one of the peaks in visitation on May 17th.

The experiment didn’t just stop in New York. In November 2023, a semi-permanent Skims store opened up at Domain Northside in Austin, TX, planning to stay 6 months as a test. It appears the test was successful since Skims opened up a permanent location at the mall on August 28. Other locations that opened this year include Aventura and Georgetown, with Houston and Atlanta on the horizon, and plans for flagships in NY and LA.