Stores on the move

The enthusiasm of shoppers such as Sharma indicates that there is a market for pop-up stores. Pop-up stores are mid-way between trunk shows and exhibitions. Divya Thakur,creative director of Design Temple in Mumbai,points out that an exhibition is usually held at a gallery whereas a pop-up is a smaller version of the store that offers much more than just the ware. “For a pop-up to do well,the brand hosting it needs to have an identity that’s strong enough to draw in a new crowd. It also helps when the venue is also popular among shoppers,” she says.

The visual merchandising too plays an important role in a pop-up store. “Here,one is not just selling a garment or an accessory; rather you’re introducing the store to the customer. There’s a greater focus on the display. Moreover,at a time when real estate prices are going through the roof,a pop-up store is the ideal way of checking out a new market within a short period,” says Maithili Ahluwalia of Bungalow 8 in Mumbai.

When Cecilia Morelli-Parikh of Le Mill wanted to explore the Delhi market,a pop-up store seemed like a good idea. “The response was great as Delhiites were very receptive to the brand,” says Morelli-Parikh,who is looking at more pop-up stores in the Capital.

Similarly,Ahluwalia is eyeing more pop-ups — both across the country and in international cities such as New York and Tokyo.

Luxury boutiques often dwell on the pop-up store format to test the market outside their home cities. Thakur,has in fact taken an ambitious step in this direction by tying up with The Park hotels across the country. “As a 12-year-old Mumbai store,we have already tapped into our customer base here. But we now want to show clients in other cities what they can expect from us,” says Thakur.

She is holding a series of pop-up stores called Design Temple@The Box. As part of this,one show was held at The Park Hotel in Delhi last November,followed by another in Chennai where they sold graphic art items such as posters and stationery. This year,Kolkata and Bangalore are on their itinerary.

The pop-up stores,owing to their structure,are not restricted to metros alone. A case in point is the multi-designer store Atosa in Mumbai. Aparna Badlani,one of its owners,is gearing up for their pop-up store to open in Nagpur in the third week of July. “Not many are aware of this,but cities like Nagpur and Ahmedabad have a lot of potential as markets. We haven’t decided the venue yet but it will be a three-day pop-up store in Nagpur.”