Pop Up! Wants To Bring Melbourne Fashion To Newcastle
Image courtesy of Wild Swan Fashion
Pop Up! Newcastle, an initiative developed by Novocastrian & Urban Insider contributor Matthew Endacott, exists to bring Melbourne’s fashion designers to Newcastle to sell their wares in pop-up stores… & needs your help to do it… - Ed.
At first glance, you might think it’s a clearance sale. Between the polished concrete and the old ceiling pipes there’s the latest fashion, a cash register, and that’s about it. Pop-up stores are proving to be financially viable alternatives to franchising or permanent expansion, enabling small to medium businesses to “case the joint” before they commit to a new store.
You’ll find these gems somewhere between squatting and a lease agreement, keeping their target market keen by living out of boxes while they entertain the idea of sticking around.
Although stores have been popping-up for months, weeks or even days in cities like New York or Berlin, the concept is still uncommon in Australia. Lula Mae gave it a go in Melbourne recently and the shop was an instant hit. The temporal nature of pop-up stores is what makes them so successful. Rather than deliberating or delaying a purchase, shoppers act immediately and allow pop-ups to make a killing without significant overheads.
In keeping with our city’s reputation as being somewhat of a trendsetter, PopUp! Newcastle wants to get Melbourne labels to look at Hunter Street, not George Street, when they consider taking their first steps outside Victoria. Inspired by the success of Marcus Westbury’s Renew Newcastle initiative, I have created a Facebook page to show Melbourne retailers not only how much we love them, but why their shops will succeed in Newcastle.
PopUp! Newcastle wants to position our city as a viable location for interstate expansion. In creating opportunities for stores and brands like Jack London, Nobody Jeans and Third Drawer Down to mingle with likeminded Novocastrians, PopUp! Newcastle will highlight significant points of parity between Melbourne and Newcastle. This will build on the success of Renew Newcastle and contribute to the development of Brand Newcastle’s cultural associations.
If you want to see Melbourne retailers entering New South Wales via Newcastle, like the PopUp! Newcastle Facebook page and get your fashion-loving friends to do the same to help revitalise Hunter Street one pop-up store at a time! This initiative needs your support so let’s make it happen!
It might be an uncommon occurrence in Newcastle but pop-ups happen in Melbourne ALL the time and have for years so to say the concept is uncommon in Australia is not entirely accurate. I wrote an article about it early last year for Broadsheet and was already saying they were ubiquitous 🙂
Hope Newcastle sees some Melbourne labels soon though!
Hi Sarah, thanks for your comment!
Maybe “relatively new” is more accurate. Kudos to Melbourne for picking up on the trend first! Having lived in Sydney for three years now I can say that the NSW capital is yet to embrace pop-ups.
Hi there, pop-ups in Newcastle is a great idea! I have heard of pop-ups happening in Paddington, Sydney. I believe they would attract people to the CBD, which would be great as it is so quiet! Even on the weekends.