Shopping Center Business is the leading monthly business magazine for the retail real estate industry.
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OLSHAN PROPERTIES 78 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • December 2017 around the idea that we're different, and if you don't show up this week- end, you might miss out." According to Marshall, Olshan's pop-up program achieves three goals: it brings in ancillary income, it ex- pands the customer experience at the center, and it incubates concepts of smaller business owners that can turn into long-term tenants. ICSC's Envision 2020, a report on best practices for the industry moving forward, advocates for similar programs, encouraging landlords to collaborate with retailers and to use "shopping centers as frontiers" to incubate concepts from en- trepreneurial businesses in order to stay relevant with online sales and to continue to drive traffic to the center. Some of the pop-up tenants may have some small shop space elsewhere, but many are local or regional online-on- ly businesses trying their hands at a bricks-and-mortar presence. Olshan has leveraged its rela- tionships with Beavercreek city and Greene County officials to stream- line the leasing process for its pop- up tenants. Expedited, simpler leases support the ability to easily and fre- quently refresh the tenant lineup to hold shoppers' attention spans and keep them coming back. "We laid out the program's benefits [to local officials] plus some of the ways we hoped we could bypass some of the red tape," Marshall says. "The end result was that we were allowed to file for a permit in our name with permission to rotate vendors in and out without further approvals as long as we maintained consistent avenues of egress and monitored the usage, as we would any tenant. "This has worked extremely well. Many of these folks utilizing the shop have not been in a retail setting before, so they are getting experience and ex- posure to new customers." Some lease terms and classifications vary depending on the tenant and inven- tory. Pop-up shop tenants are typically open from two days to no more than a few weeks based on availability while "tempo- rary" tenants lease month-to-month or for a period of six months to a year. "The program has been extremely well received by our town center patrons," says Lynn Meredith, executive director of mar- keting for Olshan Properties. "In fact, our first Pop Up Shop merchant, Puzzles Plus, experienced such overwhelming success that they quickly secured a five-month lease in an available temporary space." "Additionally, another Pop-Up Shop, Olde Crow Primitives, experi- enced high sales volume over a short weekend resulting in a larger tempo- rary space for the holiday season; go- ing Pop Up to Temp seems to be the trend so far when space is available." Marketing was essential in launching the pop-up concept. Meredith says Ol- shan implemented a strategic public rela- tions and digital marketing campaign to support leasing of the pop-up concept. Olshan was able to push the mes- saging about pop-ups through The Greene's website and social media channels to communicate the essen- tials: Businesses can come in Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for a small fee and use the space as a test. It was important to convey that the space was move-in ready and that The Greene handles all paperwork and fees associated with the city and county. The program was launched in early fall 2017 and quickly became fully booked to the end of the year. "We have always operated with a department-wide, all-hands-on-deck approach to create value in our cen- ters," Meredith says. She adds that some of the more tra- ditional ways Olshan Properties' mar- keting teams have brought in revenue include sponsorship of events, signs, playgrounds, and selling advertising space on center digital platforms, coupon books and direct-mail pieces. "While sponsorships have always been a focus for marketing, oppor- tunities to grow this income have decreased as companies continue to reduce the sponsorship advertising spend. Our teams have become mar- keting innovators in the process as we stay on top of current trends, create experiential environments and devel- op innovative programs to support revenue generation." Meredith says the pop-up vendors benefit from high-traffic locations where customers will want to touch and feel items firsthand, then tag The Greene in social media posts. "Vibrant shopping destinations like ours allow these vendors to demon- strate products, make connections with consumers and get first-hand feedback," Meredith says. "We're doing whatever we can to add new, unique experiences for our customers at the center and to pro- mote authentic, local retailers in our markets," adds Marshall. SCB Fashion retailer Shop Bravura was among the first to tenant The Greene's Pop Up Shops. Pop Up Shop tenant Puzzles Plus went from a pop-up lease to a five-month lease after success piloting its business at The Greene Town Center.