Shopping at the pop-up mall
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger
Photos: Studio55
There is a new concept in shopping that has revolutionized London. The new BOXPARK is the first pop-up mall in the world giving shoppers a variety of over 60 labels. It is easy to visit located next to the underground Shoreditch station to the northeast of central London and near the Olympic Stadium where the Olympics will be held next summer.
The mall creator is Roger Wade. Found at this mall are streetwear labels of Abuze and Boxfresh, well-known sports brands such as Nike, Puma and Lacoste Live and clothing names such as Oakley, Dockers, Levi’s and high-end designers such as Calvin Klein. Customers are drawn in by food, coffee shops, juice bars as well as art galleries.
The mall is made entirely of shipping containers and each store takes up to 1-3 containers. It is 2 stories high and five rows wide. What is unique about this pop-up mall is the fact that the basic building blocks can be moved anywhere in the globe at anytime. It also gives more flexibility to retailers that don’t want to get into long-term leases and don’t have the capital to do so. The strategy for this mall is to keep it at this location for five years and open a second site in London, two regional UK sites and a European pop-up mall by the end of 2013. Amsterdam is possibly the European target.
With the focus on environment-friendly these days, it is evident that BOXPARK will soon become a favorite with its structure being made totally from recycled materials.
After the five year period, the land will be returned back to its owners in the original condition and the community can decide if a permanent retail location would best fit their needs.
This will be an experiment to determine how well retailers can do to attract consumers and give them something fresh and original and most importantly, affordable while looking out for the environment.
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