3 Reasons Why a Pop Up Shop Works

A random shot from the last day of the Pop Up.

Now that our Pop Up shop has closed it’s timely to do a quick analysis and consider whether it was worth it, and whether we’d do it again.

In short, the answers are yes and yes.

The three main reasons this approach worked for us:

1.      The rent was very reasonable, so there was little risk and we could afford to keep our prices at wholesale level;

2.      The location was excellent, with good street exposure so it had high visibility for locals and tourists;

3.      We had just imported 600kg of stock, so we had a wide range of interesting items to offer.

A few years ago we sold out of
English Victorian cranberry and green
glass wine glasses at $40 each.
Now they're $12 each.  You can see why
people are loving wholesale prices.

This worked so well for us that we are now scouting for a new location.  With the same three parameters:

1.      A non-delusional landlord, offering a reasonable rent;

2.      A good location, with high exposure;

3.      A good selection of interesting stock, at wholesale prices;

we can see no reason why such an exercise wouldn’t work well again. 

The only downside this time was that we couldn’t extend the lease for another month.

Okay, working seven days a week for an entire month was also a bit sucky.  But it was totally worth it, and for a month or two we can live with being hard working, so the hunt for the next Pop Up shop has commenced. 

Calypso enjoyed being Shop Cat again, but she's
enjoying snoozing on her favourite cushion
at home a lot more.

We considered the nine – yes nine – shops currently vacant in Hastings Street in Noosa, but the cheapest one is seeking rent of $9000 per month. 

And that, my friends, falls into the Delusional Landlord category. 

So the hunt continues.  Maybe we’ll find something suitable, maybe not – we’ll chill and see what happens next.

In the short term, the next big event for us will be Collectorama – the biggest antiques fair in south-east Queensland – which will be at the Nambour Showground on Saturday, 6 September.  We’ll take our usual double stand in our usual spot, if you’re able to visit.

Can you make out the odd thing about this
frosted glass globe paperweight?
New Zealand is missing. 
Perhaps it didn't exist in the 1960s? 
Sorry New Zealand, but I didn't make this piece,
I'm just flogging it.

In the meantime, it’s back to the Caloundra Street Fair for us this coming Sunday, 10 August.

At our last outing at the Street Fair we had a busker set up almost directly opposite us.  Regular readers will know that I have developed a not unreasonable suspicion of all buskers, and a pathological hatred of most. 

But the busker opposite us was juggler.  Yay, a silent busker – got to love that.  But it did beg the question:  Has anyone made a living from juggling since, I dunno - the Middle Ages?  The answer is forsooth, alas and alack, no.  Our boy didn’t appear to even cover the cost of having a spot at the Street Fair.

Our juggler with one of his students.  Don't you
think if he wore a great Court Jester outfit
it would be more fun?

He wasn’t bad when he didn’t try to get too fancy-schmancy, and he threw in a 10 minute lesson for only $2 more if you bought a set of balls.  But jugglers, even 21^st century jugglers, need to be dressed in motley, don’t you think? 

It’s a tad boring to see a dude in casual street clothes standing around doing okay juggling.  We weren’t talking Cirque du Soleil standard by any means, and even their super-duper performers add razzamatazz via makeup and an appropriate outfit.

But on balance, silent buskers at the Caloundra Street Fair get a big tick of approval from me, and our boy can only improve in skills and marketing.  Bring your fire-breathing routine – and outfit! - if you visit on 10 August, and together you might have the makings of something entertaining.

What a sweet boy Caleb is, but what a naughty boy he was as Shop Cat, so he was banned and Calypso became the sole pussycat manager for the duration.