By Mary Lou Jay
Pop-up shops provide retailers with opportunities to boost brand awareness, engage current and new customers and promote selected merchandise. But pop-ups present several challenges for facility managers, whether the unused space that they’re converting into a temporary store is in a mall, a strip shopping center or freestanding.
“Pop-ups are one of the fastest turnaround projects FMs are given, and, for many of them, these are first-time projects,” said Alexandra Sanchez, Sales Manager for Branded Group, a facilities maintenance company. FMs often don’t know what to expect in preparing, maintaining and closing out
Problems can begin with the acquisition of the space. Sanchez said that in most companies, the real estate department doesn’t consult the FM before signing the lease. As a result, FMs may have to resolve — on a schedule that can be as short as two weeks — plumbing, electrical or HVAC issues. “These pop-ups are something retailers want to have done as fast as possible and as cost-effective as possible,” Sanchez added.
But pop-ups can’t reflect that cheap and fast approach; they have to be a finished, inviting space that’s consistent with the brand, according to Kate Turner, Facilities Manager at beauty retailer Glossier. The company’s most recent pop-up, in an old, converted fire station in Chicago’s North Loop, was open from mid-August through October 2018.
Turner worked with an architect and a general contractor to ensure any changes made to this space complied with the city’s codes. She hired a millworker and worked with the construction and creative teams to ensure fixtures didn’t require long lead times or extensive custom work. Since Glossier expected heavy store traffic, Turner scheduled a painting crew three times a week to repaint all the surfaces being touched.
“We are an Instagram and social media-heavy brand. People who come to our stores are coming for the experience; they take photos and enjoy the environment. So, it is important that all of the
Getting a cleaning crew proved to be one of the most difficult tasks. Vendors usually want a long-term relationship, and that’s not going to happen with a store open for a limited time. That makes it more difficult to negotiate favorable terms. “Cleaning is often a line item people think they can pinch, but it’s actually one that needs to be given more wiggle room with a pop-up,” Turner said.
Once the Chicago pop-up closed, Turner’s team cleared out and cleaned the space. After removing all the product, they took inventory and stored the equipment and materials that will be used for future pop-up locations and disposed of the rest.
Management Tips
In 2017, Branded Group worked on fewer than 40 pop-ups for its clients, but in 2018 they were involved in more than 100 of the short-term shops.
“The number of pop-ups has been dramatically increasing each year, and we don’t expect them to go away any time soon,” Sanchez said. “We’ve had to create a pop-up-dedicated team to manage the volume.” They’ve also developed a checklist to help FMs determine what needs to be done and who will do it.
Sanchez and Turner offer these recommendations for managing pop-up facilities:
- If possible, be included in the pop-up site selection process. Facilities management input can help reduce problems and improve maintenance outcomes.
- Once the site has been selected, ask for detailed information about the condition of the space and what it should look like. Share this with vendors as soon as possible.
- Decide early in the process who will do what. Will your department contract with various vendors for making repairs, painting, janitorial services, etc.? Or will you work with a firm that provides these services?
- Get bids from multiple vendors to determine a realistic project budget. Don’t expect definitive prices until you can provide details about the space.
- Develop a good relationship with the owner or manager of the space. Understand their requirements before you begin executing your plans or bringing people in. For example, do janitorial staff and service workers have to be approved or cleared before they can come to the property to perform their work?
- Hire a cleaning vendor as soon as possible to allow time to identify a good, dependable crew for your pop-up shop. Don’t expect bargain prices for a short-term job.
- Look ahead to close-out. Who will be in charge of emptying the space? Are fixtures going to another store, going into storage or will they need to be disposed of?
While it can be challenging to transform an unused space into an attractive pop-up shop, facility managers are key in ensuring this short-term store successfully fulfills its mission.
