Pretty Polly Pop Up Shop - Covent Garden, London

Following the success of the pop-up shop in Knightsbridge, Courtaulds wanted to open a temporary retail unit for 4 months over the Christmas period, allowing them to test customers behavior and the popularity of 4 of their key brands under one roof instead of predominately being sold via concessions.

RPM Pop Up found a fantastic unit in Covent Garden, London. It was a perfect match for the Christmas period due to its demographic and high footfall throughout the winter months.

As the Pretty Polly temporary store coincided with the launch of the latest collection of House of Holland for Pretty Polly – fronted by UK super star Jessie J our strategy was to engage customers with how empowered women feel wearing Pretty Polly tights, and this message was brought to life throughout the shop environment .

This resulted in an extremely successful campaign which attracted high footfall. Sales figures tripled in 3 months. Lots of PR was created alongside a wonderful buzz for the brand.

Pretty Polly Pop Up shop in Central Avenue Market Building at Covent Garden

Pretty Polly Pop Up Shop

Open for 4 months over the run up to Christmas period 2011/12

Christmas window display

Central Display unit in the Pretty Polly Pop Up Shop

Downstairs at the Pretty polly Pop Up Shop. We had Gossard and Berlei display alcoves

RPM Pop up in Retail Focus Magazine

RPM Pop Up featured in Retail Focus Magazine. Michelle Morris was quoted: ‘Pop-up shops create tangibility for brands and therefore build relationships based on a physical experience and interaction with that brand or product,’ says Michelle Morris of RPM Pop Up. ‘This is why more and more internet sites are moving into retail and multichannel, as pop-ups are able to convey brand personality, create engaging experiences and as a result help build brand affinity,’ she says.

Benefits of Pop Up to Landlords

There is always a lot of coverage of the benefits of Pop Up to brands and retailers. Benefits vary between giving a tangible experience for consumers, to an opportunity to leverage PR around the buzz pop up shops create, really lifting the profiles of the relevant brands. But there is a very inviting advantage for landlords to make their vacant properties available for short term lets.

Pop-up retail allows landlords with empty property to find a temporary use of their property. This in return will enable them to secure empty property business rate relief on a property with a rateable value of over £15,000 per year.  If the temporary occupation of the previously empty property lasts more than 6 weeks and a day, the landlord will receive an additional 3-6 month period of empty property rate relief.

Consequently, it pays for the landlord to let a property on a temporary basis for a minimal rent to temporary tenant who in turns covers the service charge and rental fees. It can be therefore a win-win for both new businesses/brands and landlords.