The pandemic crisis has created a golden opportunity for pop-up retail across Canada to enter the marketplace in a unique way.
Photo Credit: PopupGo
Michael Kehoe, a retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate in Calgary, said these are the golden days of pop-up retail stores and restaurants in Canada.
“Rising consumer real estate vacancy levels in the age of COVID-19 are providing opportunities for retailers and foodservice professionals to test-drive new product and menu offerings on a short-term basis in a low-risk commercial environment. Proactive and creative landlords and building owners are seeking out pop-up tenants to keep their storefronts activated and incubate new long-term tenants. ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ once said Thomas Edison,” said Kehoe.
EXPERT SAYS THERE IS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH FOR POP-UP RETAIL STORES AND RESTAURANTS
Linda Farha, Founder and Chief Connector at Toronto-based pop-up go, said when the initiative started close to four years ago it was about people who wanted to do activations to either get business intelligence, test a specific location for a long-term opportunity, or maybe even to test a product or a new concept. It was experiential.
“That process or that rationale for doing a pop-up versus today’s rationale is very different. And also I would say back then, and over time, and up until pre-pandemic, the tendency was to do a pop-up in many cases in a mall and sometimes street locations. But it wasn’t like specifically one or the other,” said Farha.
“We’re seeing a shift and we started seeing it beforehand. A lot of the things that are happening today COVID exponentially made those things happen faster. We were already starting to see a tendency toward pop-ups that were non-fashion related, non-mall related. But now we’re seeing exactly that. A lot of the pop-ups are food, accessories, things that fall into the categories of what people are actually purchasing now because of COVID. So if you’re buying lounge wear and pajamas and sweat pants and whatever else people are doing pop-ups in those particular categories that follow that trend.
“Of course, they’re doing it to get visibility in a brick and mortar environment to supplement their visibility online. And they’re also doing it to just create brand awareness but really in most cases not with the intentions of being a permanent store. Secondly, we’re seeing a lot more of a transition from interest in mall locations to outdoor and/or storefront locations.”
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Written By: Mario Toneguzzi The Retail Insider Canadian
