Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

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jonekt
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Joined: 10 Oct 2006 14:52
Location: Sydenham

Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by jonekt »

Does anyone know when the new pop up shops will be arriving in Sydenham? It all seems to have gone a bit quite since Christmas..

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leenewham
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by leenewham »

There has been one in station approach which has now closed as it's going to be a convenience store (yes, another one).

The rest are on their way. Don't fret. They are a huge amount of work to set up.
Last edited by leenewham on 11 Apr 2013 07:36, edited 1 time in total.
Tim Lund
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by Tim Lund »

leenewham wrote: The rest are on their way Eagle.
? Are you alleging that Eagle = jonekt? Doesn't seem likely to me :D
Eagle
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by Eagle »

Very Interesting.
Where is Miss Marple or Sarah Lund.
art4
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by art4 »

It's a good question where are the pop ups?

They are not that difficult to organise.

The Jill shop needs to be more commercial- putting on plays to 10 people is not the solution
Rachael
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by Rachael »

The pop up on Kirkdale has been open, hasn't it?

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art4
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by art4 »

I've just re read the original SEE3 proposal and the project is way off target.

This is public money.

Where's Louise Brookes who was given the responsibility to look after the project? There have been no updates provided by her.
bag lady
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by bag lady »

The plays to '10' people where great, and a brilliant opportunity to publicise to the community, (whether you went in or not you knew on the high street they where there) kauffman productions have gone on to support the community and offered young people the opportunity to be involved and use their talents.
He is also an established performer and director for the sydenham festival.
The pop up shop in kirkdale was beautifully done and I believe made money, also another platform for a business, surely both have been good thing?
Rachael
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by Rachael »

And the pop up in Forest Hill was so successful it has become a permanent retail outlet.

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leenewham
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by leenewham »

art4 wrote:It's a good question where are the pop ups?

They are not that difficult to organise.

The Jill shop needs to be more commercial- putting on plays to 10 people is not the solution
That depends if you can get agreement with the landlord, low rent, find a proper commercial business to move in etc. Getting the premises in the first place is difficult. What has happened so far has been really good.

They are lot of work. You know that ARt4!
leenewham
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by leenewham »

We have had the Jill Hub, the butchers in Forest Hill, The pop up in Station Approach, the pop up in Kirkdale.

Jill is separate from the pop ups delivered by The Shop Revolution team.

Well said Rachael by the way.
michael
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by michael »

The Butchery that Rachael mentioned started as a SEE3 pop-up and is now permanent.
There is another pop-up in Forest Hill, a fashion retailer at 10a Dartmouth Road.

Once one pop-up stays in a permanent position it is fantastic for the long-term viability of the high street, but it also makes the SEE3 team's job harder in finding a new site for additional pop-ups (and the 'Jack' hub which we still haven't seen).

Updates on the projects have been provided to local assemblies on the progress of the SEE3 project.

Unfortunately Art4 will continue to lead the criticism of all things SEE3 because she was not offered a job, but it doesn't stop the great progress that is being seen on our local high streets through market forces, the initiatives of the SEE3 team, and others involved in regenerating the area. Still plenty more to do and plenty of potential for our high streets, and easier to criticise than to make a long lasting change for the area.
Moonpig
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by Moonpig »

Another convenience store... sigh :( I don't understand how they all make enough money to survive or why, when there is at least another 4 in the vicinity (and the possibility of Sainsburys Local opening soon) that anyone would think it is a good business idea to open another one!

It is a shame that none of the Sydenham pop up shops have decided to remain permanently- they were great! Hopefully when the next ones open they may decide to take permanent residence like the butchers in Forest Hill :D
art4
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by art4 »

Less to do with critisism- two of the pops were exremely good and I supported each.

My point is more an observation- the SEE3 proposal states there would be a further 7 pop ups between Jan - May 2013.

I had wondered more if the opportunity had been lost for some reason?

Am interested as a local resident would only want the project to be a success
louisecbrooks
Posts: 174
Joined: 9 Sep 2010 09:16

Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by louisecbrooks »

Hello All

I had been planning to make an update but had been waiting until we secured the shops for the upcoming Sydenham project - this should take place in coming weeks.

We are planning four pop up shops in Sydenham to open in May/June, one of which will be in the Jill Community hub (which as I understand it will continue in a more mobile capacity). The Jack and Jill Community Hubs are a separate initiative to The Shop Revolution by the way. Applications for these shops will be opening in the coming weeks with details for how folks might to that to follow soon.

As part of the project we are looking to address the lack of a night-time economy, something that has been communicated through community engagement activities in Jill and fed back anecdotally. We will be planning a series of events throughout June which will feed nicely into the Sydenham Arts Festival in July. I don't want to give too much away at this early stage but I will provide an update soon.

We are also hoping to build on the existing arts identity in the area and look at ways to bring that to the high street. We will announce details soon as to how you can get involved in the SEE3 Arts Committee. Clearly there will be strong links with the Sydenham Arts Festival and the Visual Arts Trail, and you will see some pop up collaborations between SAF and SEE3 in July.

Here is an update on the pop up shops to date:
- Station Approach, Sydenham - Taken over by a long-term tenant.
- 161 Kirkdale - Pen & Gravy VS Modernish have recently ceased trading and new tenants Syd's Vintage will be moving in from next week, selling high end vintage clothing along with vintage furniture. Clair and Norman of Syd's Vintage were briefly installed in the old Floorzone shop opposite LA Fitness so you might well know them.
- 49 London Road, Sydenham - This was home to The Butchery at Christmas and was taken over by them permanently in February.
- 10A Dartmouth Road - SEE Boutique, our most recent pop up shop opening as part of Forest Hill Fashion Week in February and home to Ronke Fashola of Love Ur Look selling her own vintage inspired designs made from ethically sourced materials.

We are also planning 2 further shops in Kirkdale and Forest Hill - projects of which are being scoped.

I would like to say one thing about our approach and that is that we take a holistic view when installing pop up shops. It isn't just about filling shops which would otherwise remain empty, and providing opportunities for fledgling businesses. We also assess how to meet the needs of the community, what will be complementary to existing businesses and what might have a lasting impact - a legacy if you will.

For our recent project in Forest Hill we had the problem that there were very few empty shops that were available and suitable but we wanted to make a maximum impact. It was clear that Forest Hill had begun to establish a fashion identity with established boutique Bunka and fashion collections in Stag & Bow and Doopo Doopo, and then recent newcomers Best of Both Boutique and Marie's Boutique. With London Fashion Week taking place in February we thought it would be an ideal time to hold our own homage to local design and fashion talent by staging Forest Hill Fashion Week. The result was a five day festival of fashion with over 20 events taking place throughout the high street, with 11 high street businesses participating in the events and over 30 businesses who came to the high street to participate.

We were overwhelmed by the success of the event and the enthusiasm and support it excited. Significantly participating businesses reported an increase in footfall and sales for the duration of the event and would all be keen to be involved in a future FHFW. We had a record number of volunteers, with involvement from Sydenham Girls School (who helped create the fabulous catwalk show at the close of the week), Goldsmiths students (who had a 2 day pop up shop called the Design Marketplace) and young designers and makers The Foragers who specially created outfits from used materials for the catwalk show.

We are very pleased that it looks likely that Forest Hill Fashion Week will become a regular event. Take a look at www.foresthillfashion.com which has been created following the success of FHFW.

Our aim is to make a similar lasting impact in Sydenham and we have been carrying out a lot of work to ensure this is the case. So although it might seem as though we have gone a bit quiet we have been doing a lot behind the scenes. More to follow soon.

Louise
dickp
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by dickp »

I believe the pop-up shop in Kirkdale has now closed. Speaking to the operator, the unit seemed a very strange set-up - no "back" office / storage space at all, although (I think) a cellar. So it might be a hard sell for any potential tenant.

I hope the Buchery in Forest Hill goes well. I've been there a few times. But I'm also disappointed that the station approach is becoming (yet another) convenience store. Hopefully, the cold wind of Tesco and Sainsburys will finally put off traders who think we need more of them. One has to wonder just how many new operators conducts a basic competitor review, before deciding to open here.

Like others on here, I've had thought it had all gone a bit quite, update wise - until I visited the SEE3 site today, where I noticed that stuff is happening - it's just not posted on Sydenham Town Forum. But I don't see any reason why the SEE3 team can't be benchmarked against their initial plan, to see how it's panning out. How else is it possible to evaluate whether the approach has worked, to determine whether other Portas Pilots should be set up? That's not sour grapes - that's evaluation of impact.

Btw Portas team: If you want to mailshot potential new tenants using that spreadsheet of "nice local business" I sent you - go ahead. It's what it's for.
louisecbrooks
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by louisecbrooks »

dickp, in response to your point about the shop at 161 Kirkdale having an odd set-up our limited funds did mean that we could only make a certain number of improvements. There are opportunities for long-term tenants to make further improvements including developing the large basement space and the landlord is very flexible about terms to facilitate such improvements. We have actually seen significant long-term interest in the unit which I think could amount to something more interesting than a mini-mart in the near future.

In the meantime the SEE3 team are dedicated to delivering the initiatives outlined in the bid, and there are a number of reviews taking place in the coming weeks for the contractors assigned to deliver projects as well as regular monitoring by Lewisham Council and the GLA.

Please read my previous post for updates on The Shop Revolution project.
G-Man
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by G-Man »

I think what's been happening has been fantastic and Forest Hill fashion week was really good with some excellent events and a great team of volunteers.

Looking forward to what you have planned for Sydenham. Let's hope it's as successful.

Cheers

G-Man
Nigel
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by Nigel »

Just wanted to put myself on the side of well-wishers here.

art4's brand of motivational speaking doesn't do it for me. It is absolutely not easy to organise a successful pop-up shop, and the brandishments about "this is public money" are not helpful.

Sydenham does have great culture of local art , in all its forms , and the theatrical events at Jill were a great idea . Shopping life , if I may call it so, is about more than just offer/consideration/acceptance - it is the whole experience, and just meeting some of the people involved was really positive . The fact that there has been some sustainable outcomes is a measure of success , pure and simple . I am sure there is more to come and I cannot see why anyone with a balanced world-view would not support this excellent work whole-heartedly.

Good evening
Nigel
penelopeelse
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Re: Mary Portas: Pop up Shops

Post by penelopeelse »

Whoops, a bit previous on linking to the foresthillfashion.com website - that's just a demo at the moment until it can be built. However, you can see the start of that legacy at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Forest-H ... 2980477753 and https://twitter.com/fhfashionse23. Please follow us!

And I'd reiterate Louise's point about the popups - if it were just a case of finding a shop and putting in some art, that would indeed be fairly simple. However we are at the same time trying to benefit the whole retail area AND create a lasting legacy, which takes a bit more effort.
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