11 Poppinâ€™ Off Sublet mini-stores a sign of retail times BY DAEDALUS HOWELL P op-up stores function like gallery exhibitsâ€”they appear for a spell, often with a theme, make some dough, then vamoose. Some are seasonal, like Petalumaâ€™s annual Christmas store put up by Marisaâ€™s Fantasia. Others are a means for brands like Wired magazine to showcase its curatorial prowess, as with its temporary location in NYCâ€™s Times Square. Trendwatching.com, a selfdescribed â€œindependent and opinionated trend ďŹ rmâ€? based in London, claims to have coined the term â€œpop-up storeâ€? in 2004. Their cool hunters noticed that the nowdefunct airline Song had opened a store in New Yorkâ€™s SOHO district with the lifespan of the average fruit ďŹ‚y. As planned, it closed a week later, after seven days of selling samples from the in-ďŹ‚ight menu, travel gear and tickets. Now a new mutation of the pop-up concept is appearing on the retail event horizonâ€”the storewithin-a-store. Consider the recently announced launch of microâ€“ Martha Stewart stores inside JCPenney locations. I had no idea JCPenney still existed or that Martha Stewart was still relevant, but my demographic is likely irrelevant to the department storeâ€™s new CEO Ron Johnson, whoâ€™s shepherding the midrange brandâ€™s revitalization. (Heâ€™s also acquiring an almost $40 million stake in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.) On its face, it might not seem like a very exciting premiseâ€”the doyenne of domesticality branding some shelf space in a retail chain. Whatâ€™s germane is that Johnson was the brain behind Apple Stores. If Johnson can bring any of the mojo from Steve Jobsâ€™ in-house shopping experience, he may be able to create a successful retail Frankenstein out of JCPenney and Martha Stewart. At which point, the editors of Trendwatching.com will explode from smug selfsatisfaction as the store-within-astore trend will have crossed into a hard, cold economic reality. For some, â€œitâ€™s a good thing.â€? But for those holding the note on vacant retail space, this nestingdoll approach to commerce is trouble. Due to the economic downturn, thereâ€™s no dearth of available storefronts in which one might temporarily set up shop. Pop-up stores in these spaces could represent a minor reprieve, and would surely be welcomed with open arms like the Spirit Halloween stores that are ubiquitous through September and October. Founded in 1983, the come-and-go costume seller has perfected the large-scale pop-up store model. This year, it ďŹ lled 900 temporary locations in 48 states and Canada, all in â€œhigh visibility, high-traffic strip centersâ€? that would otherwise be empty. But then, as JCPenneyâ€™s Johnson probably realized, a standalone Martha Stewart store might also end up empty. Daedalus Howell is at FMRL.com. NO RTH BAY BO H E M I AN | D EC E M BE R 14â€“20, 201 1 | BOH EMI A N.COM Media 8==FI;89C< 8==FI;89C< :FDGLK