ICSC conference: Pop-up entrepreneur cuts a swathe through traditional retail

Experience is everything in the retail world, according to Ross Bailey, the 23-year old retail entrepreneur behind Appear Here, a concept that turns empty shops into retail pop-ups.

Speaking alongside some of the industry’s heavyweight retail experts at ICSC's European conference in London on Tuesday, Bailey revealed the secrets behind some of Europe’s most successful retail destinations.

'Most people my age prefer shopping offline, not online and when asked, half would prefer to launch a business in a physical environment,' he noted. 'The stores are acting as a halo for the online world. It’s not omni-channel, or multi-channel retail. It’s just retail.'

Bailey said his pop-up concept made it as easy for 'wannabe' new formats to book retail space as booking a hotel room. In the past year alone his business has facilitated 650 pop-up stores opening across London and Bailey is now taking the concept into Europe.

Online retail formats such as Surfdome, Google Home and Lyst have all launched pop-up shops through Appear Hear, and Bailey maintains a contributing factor is that they get more bang for their marketing buck through the social media and coverage garnered through such a strategy than through traditional advertising and marketing.

Appear Here’s first big success was relaunching a successful retail offer at London’s Old Street underground tube station as a cool new retail hub after such traditional retail stalwarts as Boots the Chemist and others had abandoned the run down station. 'It had become a dormitory for those with no-where else to sleep,' said Bailey.

Since relaunch, more than 150 new retailers have made their debut there and reporters from some of the glossiest magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar are prowling around the station to discover the ‘next big thing’, he said.

'It’s all about the audience,' said Bailey. 'What’s most important is that landlords begin to think of themselves as media owners as well as providers of retail space.'