Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.
Issue link: http://shoppingcenterbusiness.epubxp.com/i/817746
POP-UPS 280 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • May 2017 R ecent headlines about familiar mall retailers closing stores are not the best news. But if anything, these announcements are super-charging the race to give people good reason to visit their local brick-and-mortar stores. And that's where pop-ups can really make a difference. Although the pop-up concept has been around for about a decade, it's still evolv- ing in lock step with the swell of online shopping. Approximately half of Ameri- can households are Amazon Prime mem- bers, and it's not just light bulbs and toilet paper filling their carts. The Washington Post reports that apparel is the most pop- ular e-commerce category. "Today's retail landscape is morphing into something entirely new and differ- ent," says Robyn Marano, vice president of marketing for Madison Marquette, a private real estate investment and operat- ing firm. "Traditional stores — both large and small — are closing, and national chains and iconic department stores are folding as bankruptcies create headlines that re- verberate throughout the nation and the world. Why? These changes are indicative of something much bigger than finance and balance sheets; these changes are telling us that our target customers want something the entire industry has failed to recognize, until now." Already this year, retailers including Guess, Crocs, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ma- cy's, The Limited, The Children's Place, Wet Seal, American Apparel and more have announced store closings. Shopping center owners and managers are getting this message loud and clear. The concept of place-making has been a buzz word for some time, but pop-up tenants are going beyond the typical fare of seasonal merchandise and add- ing something more to the place-making landscape. What are pop-ups today? Sometimes they include a national brand doing something unique or a little unexpected outside the confines of their store walls or a small, local entrepreneur introducing shoppers to a brand new product, or even a nonprofit spotlighting their programs through a one-of-a-kind retail offering. For Federal Realty Investment Trust, with 94 properties primarily on the east Pop-Ups Go Mainstream Now more than ever, owners are seeking pop-ups that push the envelope on unique products and experiences. Lynn Peisner Pop-up retail is evolving beyond the idea of temporary tenants. Food pop-ups are especially popular. Pictured is Tartinery, a pop-up selling tartines — open-faced French sandwiches — at Brookfield Place in New York City.