Pop-up stores are becoming increasingly popular in the world of physical retail. Pop-Up stores are often an important part of the store development and brick-and-mortar expansion strategies of fast-growing brands like Vuori. Not only do they provide an effective vehicle for testing new retail concepts, store layouts, fixture concepts, geographic locations, and new product introductions, but they can help accelerate time to market, capitalize on seasonal traffic, and establish brand presence in a new market while avoiding long-term lease obligations. Pop-up stores, also know as Pop-Up shops, are most frequently executed as a store-within-a-store similar to the one we implemented for RAILS in Nordstrom. Store-in-store approaches enable brands to take advantage of existing foot traffic of established retailers while also typically having shorter space commitments. Larger, well-financed brands like Softbank-backed Vuori often opt for their own dedicated space. In today’s post, we’ll take a look inside Vuori’s latest Pop-Up store on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles.
Courtesy of Vuori
We thought we had seen it all when we helped Vuori create its Pop-up store in The Hamptons, New York in 2021 which we shared in our blog entitled “This Pop-Up Store Has It All.” Aside from its great location on a heavily-trafficked thoroughfare that runs through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, Vuori’s latest Pop-up store on Sunset Blvd. is relatively spacious and well lit with a beautiful glass storefront that lets the inside out. As shown in the picture above, the store features a variety of simple platform and metal racks for hanging apparel. To create a natural/outdoor vibe, the core store fixtures are complemented with a tasteful mix of natural stones, plants, mannequins, and lifestyle imagery.
Courtesy of Vuori
As French composer Claude Debussy once said, “The beauty of music lies in the space between the notes.” That principle is well illustrated by the minimalistic floor layout shown above. Shoppers have plenty of room to roam and browse which helps to create a relaxed atmosphere marked by a sense of freedom and openness. High ceilings, effective lighting, and polished concrete floor add to the instore environment, while effective use of wall space helps to unburden the merchandising load of the center store.
Courtesy of Vuori
As shown above, the multi-level platforms provide an ideal way to display folded items while creating a boutique-like feel and more visual interest than standard merchandising tables that are a staple in many apparel stores. The large lifestyle graphics provide inspiration and communicate the essence of Vuori as an active lifestyle, performance apparel brand. The lifestyle graphics are printed on magnetic vinyl which makes them a snap to change to keep the store’s imagery fresh and up to date.
Courtesy of Vuori
No Vuori store would be complete without its vision/inspiration statement which is shown above in a “can’t miss” location. While lifestyle imagery in key to every Vuori store, the vision/inspiration statement is a critical and high-impact component of the brand’s approach to storytelling.
Courtesy of Vuori
The Sunset Blvd. Pop-Up store has a somewhat smaller version of the simple but elegant cash wrap that you will find in every Vuori store. This 3-station cash wrap features white oak trim, a 3D laser-cut acrylic logo symbol, and a wall-mounted Vuori logo.
All of the elements of this pop-up store combine to create a simple, minimalistic, uncluttered and clean shopping environment that speaks to the Vuori brand.
Jim Hollen is the owner and President of RICH LTD. (www.richltd.com), a 35+ year-old California-based point-of-purchase display, retail store fixture, and merchandising solutions firm which has been named among the Top 50 U.S. POP display companies for 9 consecutive years. A former management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and graduate of Stanford Business School, Jim Hollen has served more than 3000 brands and retailers over more than 20 years and has authored nearly 500 blogs and e-Books on a wide range of topics related to POP displays, store fixtures, and retail merchandising.
Jim has been to China more than 50 times and has worked directly with more than 30 factories in Asia across a broad range of material categories, including metal, wood, acrylic, injection molded and vacuum formed plastic, corrugated, glass, LED lighting, digital media player, and more. Jim Hollen also oversees RICH LTD.’s domestic manufacturing operation and has experience manufacturing, sourcing, and importing from numerous Asian countries as well as Vietnam and Mexico.
His experience working with brands and retailers spans more than 25 industries such as food and beverage, apparel, consumer electronics, cosmetics/beauty, sporting goods, automotive, pet, gifts and souvenirs, toys, wine and spirits, home improvement, jewelry, eyewear, footwear, consumer products, mass market retail, specialty retail, convenience stores, and numerous other product/retailer categories.