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Pop-Ups are back!

The last time people talked about pop-ups it was in reference to very aggressive online marketing campaigns served by companies like Claria, WhenU, and Direct Revenue.  Remember?  You would be configuring a flight on Travelocity and out of the blue an ad would show up directly over the page you were viewing for Expedia (or other travel player) promising the same flight for 15 or 20 or even 50% off? Yes, the ads were in-your-face but they sure worked well.  I should know...I used to work at Claria and the CTRs and conversions were off the charts.  Good times...good times.

Well...those days are long gone but pop-ups of another kind are starting to resurface in a big way.  And this time I'm talking about pop-up retail stores.  It's a new trend where retailers open real brick-and-mortar stores for a few days, weeks, or months and then close them soon after.  And this is done ON PURPOSE!  What's the point you ask?  There is a ton of retail space available all over the country, property managers would love to lease the space even if it's for a short period of time to earn some money, and retailers do a majority of their sales around key times of the year (or have specific promotions) and don't need to be open 24/7.  So...the retailers lease the space, stock the shelves, sell merchandise, close the shop shortly thereafter, and move on.  Everybody, including the consumer, wins!

I first became aware of these new pop-ups a few weeks back when a Toys R Us "Holiday Express" store opened in the neighboring town of Rye, NY.  TRU took over a space that has been vacant for years and it is scheduled to close after the holidays.  I feel sorry for the new toy store that opened a few doors down that is trying to be a permanent fixture in the community.

TRU is scheduled to open around 80 of these pop-ups in the coming weeks and other companies like JC Penney and GAP are following suit.  Even Urban Outfitters is allowing pop-ups in their own stores for other marketers that are looking for a short-term hit and want to reach the Urban Outfitters audience.

Time will tell if these new retail pop-ups stay around longer than the old online ones.

  


 

Black Friday's Surprising Success & Cyber Monday's Strong Results

Even With the economy in a tailspin the cash registers were ringing at Retail stores around the country during the 3-day weekend following Thanksgiving.  It started with a bang on Black Friday (and really, who doesn't think of the old Steely Dan song when that is mentioned) and shoppers continued to spend on Saturday and Sunday, too.  According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) 172 million shoppers hit stores over the holiday weekend, up 17% from '07, they spent 7% more than last year, and the total take for retailers was in the $41 Billion range.  After watching all those crazy (passionate?) people stand in line at 4am in White Plains on Friday to get into Kohl's, Wal Mart and other stores I'm not all that surprised by these figures.  No doubt HUGE $$ discounts in merchandise may have had something to do with the numbers.  Big question: are retailers sacrificing profits for sales?  We'll see when Q1 earnings reports come out.

Cyber Monday (a term the NRF coined back in '05) was a hit for online retailers, too.  Early results show that shoppers spent nearly 30% more compared to last year and that conversion rates rose, too.  Full disclosure...I did ALL my holiday shopping online yesterday.  Haven't purchased one item in a store this season and hoping that I won't need to.

Black Friday Starts Early

As most of you know the Friday after Thanksgiving in the retail world is known as Black Friday. Retailers around the country open their doors early, put on huge displays and have big sales. This is all done to entice the public to shop 'til we drop and spend big bucks in the run up to the holidays in December. I decided to take part in this annual ritual by waking early this morning (330am) and finding out just how many people line up before the doors open in order to take advantage of the sales.

First stop was Kohl's in Port Chester, NY which opened their doors at 4am:

There were about 50 people in line at 4am and by the time I took a few photos and walked into the store there were already people walking out with purchases. There were men, women and some kids (under age 10) enjoying the early morning hour at the store.

I walked out without buying anything (I was more interested in other people's shopping experience) and made my way to the heart of White Plains to get to a few stores that would be opening their doors at 5am. I parked in the big lot near the movie theaters and made my way to Wal Mart. On my way I passed the line for Circuit City:

There were at least 100 people outside of Circuit City all well behaved. I then made the 100 yard walk over to Wal Mart and was blown away. The line at 430am was already down Main Street and around the corner on North Broadway:

I asked some people near the front of the line (standing outside the store in about 35 degree temp) what time they arrived. 215am was there answer. Why I asked. Do it every year and want to get in on the early sales they replied. I then asked a few guards if I could take a few photos of the people at the very front of the line who were - luckily for them - inside and didn't have to withstand the chilly temps. They thought I was Press and let me in:

The 2 ladies at the very front arrived at 8pm the night before. WOW. The mood of those first 50 or so people in line was amazingly upbeat. When they saw I was taking pictures they cheered, gave a thumps up and asked for me to take their pictures. The excitement was contagious and it almost made me want to get in the back of that Wal Mart line and parade in with the rest of the locals. But...I chose against it.

One more drive around town (so much traffic it felt like a Saturday night in White Plains) and noticed a small line in front of Sears:

My Black Friday adventure finished I drove home and got back in bed by 5am. I'll do my holiday shopping online later this weekend!

Final thought. I'm not a betting man but based on my little bit of research this morning I would bet that of all the stores I went to this morning Wal Mart will have the most success during this holiday season. No doubt all retailers are going to struggle with the way the economy is heading right now but Wal Mart had 10X (or more) the number of people lined up compared to the others and the energy level was high. Consumers were generally excited to shop.

If you enjoyed a little shopping on Black Friday feel free to share your story.