Pop-up shops are here to stay
Strolling along Sydney’s retail districts can sometimes feel like walking through a ghost town but landlords and small businesses are finding that pop-up shops fill in lease gaps and are even preferred to long-term arrangements.
Earlier this month, the City of Sydney moved in 15 creative professionals into pop-up studios on Oxford St. The six-month leases were offered as partially subsidized spaces from $50 to $250 per week.
Next month, the creative duo known as Evie Group will rent out its first pop-up space at Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence St. The pair of industrial designers, Alex Gilmour and Dominic Chong, will be launching its Spun lamps from February 13 to March 3.
Evie Group Director, Dominic Chong said: “We chose the Gaffa Gallery as we loved the personality of the place. It is a heritage-listed building, and was formerly a police holding cell. There are still holes on the
floor where the bars were!”
The UTS design graduates have been running their business for a year and a half and will invite big industry players to interact with their products.
“Having an actual shop space allows us to control the environment with light and decor,” Mr Chong said. “Gaffa Gallery is also pretty central so it’s easy when inviting buyers, architects and designers to come view our collection.”
The gallery has four spaces for lease, one has a permanent tenant, one is rented for six month periods and the remaining two are for shorter leases. The venue’s retail manager, Zoe Brand said there are between 10 and 15 tenants a year who rent the spaces for $330 + GST per week.
“We started it purely to give people something in between a market stall and having a shop,” she said.
“We are in a three-storey creative precinct and basically being in the city brings in an interesting clientele. Black Star Pastry from Newtown was here over Christmas. We’ve had ceramacists, artists, Ellese – which is a ladies’ pyjama retailer and home wares.”
Those who are most attracted are people experimenting with the idea of having a shopfront. “It’s like dipping your toe into the water before jumping in. It’s also great for a one-off, like one night or one week.”
While these spaces are ideal for upstarts to peddle their wares in transient, uncertain times, she said tenants should focus on marketing themselves. “They can use social networks … blogs and print media are also good. It’s so you don’t waste the precious week or period you have,” Ms Brand said.
Pop-up shop owner Simon Lovelace at blank_space on Crown St uses gumtree to advertise for short-term tenants, something he has done for over two years. “Pop-up stuff works best when the client doesn’t have a physical address, perhaps they’re doing online work.”
He said landlords prefer to leave a unit vacant than drop the rent. “If you can’t rent out the space for the proposed amount, then it’s better to leave it empty because if you drop the price it reduces the value of the building,” he said.
Rent at the venue is $1540 per week and 75 per cent of the time, the gallery is reserved for art exhibitions. “The rest of the time it’s product launches and pop-up shops,” he said.
