While pop-ups aren’t a new phenomenon, they have become more sophisticated and varied in recent years. They can be as small (and mobile) as a food truck, like Haleon’s pop-up that offered tote bags and hot beverages to denizens of NYC’s East Village during the 2024 holiday season. Or they can rotate through different themes like The Corner at the Nordstrom NYC flagship, which hosted Bode at in March 2024 as the first of its high-profile “guests.” They can even show off new, high-tech products, like the LA Meta Lab dedicated to the company’s AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Retailers also use pop-ups as testing grounds for permanent brick-and-mortar locations, as Kizik and design firm MG2 did with the retailer’s NYC pop-up in 2024. The original pop-up proved so popular that Kizik extended its original operating dates while the brand planned two permanent shops — one in King of Prussia, Pa. and the other in the Mall of America. Pop-up stores also can “put down roots” as a permanent retail location, as Revolve Group did in January 2025 following its successful pop-up at LA’s The Grove.
Event Tie-Ins Provide Fertile Ground for Pop-Ups
Sports and cultural events also are prime locations for pop-ups, as retail marketers seek to tap into consumer excitement and foot traffic. Savvy retailers will source or create event-specific merchandise for pop-up locations, as Saks Fifth Avenue did for the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live in January 2025 (the show tapes in Rockefeller Center, across the street from the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship). Saks rolled out an exclusive line of SNL merchandise via a dedicated landing page on its website as well as in two pop-up shops and a special window installation.
Abercrombie & Fitch likewise tied its Super Bowl LIX pop-up, held Feb. 8, 2025 in New Orleans, to products — in this case the retailer’s National Football League-licensed apparel collection. Visitors could personalize their purchases at a custom embroidery station and participate in meet-and-greets with NFL stars, with additional invite-only VIP events throughout the day.
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In a tie-in with the New York City Marathon, On Running used its pop-up shop not only to take advantage of runners’ presence in the city but also to demonstrate its high-tech product manufacturing. The pop-up featured a fully automated LightSpray machine that created personalized LightSpray shoe uppers in three minutes. The single-step spraying process is designed to reduce waste, generating 75% fewer carbon emissions than the brand’s other racing shoe uppers.
Pop-Ups Act as Brand Ambassadors
Some retailers use pop-ups to signal a change in their brand positioning as well as a chance to interact with consumers in new ways. In fall 2024, H&M used a series of seven pop-ups in cities across the U.S. and Canada designed to immerse visitors in a modern, engaging space featuring “the very best of the brand’s fashion identity,” according to a company statement. The pop-ups featured aroma installations where guests could create personalized bottles of essential oils, with an expert walking them through each of the six base oils and potential pairings.
Walmart used a pop-up that toured 40 cities to boost its fashion street cred with the Walmart Style Tour this past fall. Each stop on the tour included interactive experiences designed to position Walmart as a fashion expert, including a curated selection of #WalmartFinds, shoppable via QR codes; style tips from Walmart Style Tour stylists; free personalized color analysis to help guests find the best seasonal shades for their skin and hair tones; and personalized product giveaways.
Linking Physical Pop-Ups with Digital Touch Points
Anthropologie views its pop-ups as a feedback loop with its loyal customer base, reflecting and amplifying trends. For Anthropologie’s Holiday House pop-up in October 2023, the retailer partnered with trend barometer Pinterest, transforming a historic Brooklyn brownstone into six curated holiday concepts and a series of events.
Additionally, the retailer’s Anthro Fruit Stand pop-ups at The Grove in Los Angeles and in NYC’s Union Square, linked these IRL experiences with its stores and digital presence. With the use of on-site QR codes, Anthropologie boosted category-specific DTC item sales at the installations and also facilitated customer acquisition efforts via registration for the brand’s AnthroPerks loyalty program. The real-world pop-ups were amplified with a virtual Fruit Stand on the Anthropologie website.
Bigger is Better
And then there are the unconventional pop-ups, some of which don’t include traditional retailing opportunities but do garner attention and generate buzz. The Ikea Big Blue Bag, a 19-foot-high version of its iconic Frakta blue bag, visited several cities in June 2023. Viewers scanning QR codes located on the sculpture were offered exclusive discounts, with scans generating AR animation of Ikea products flying out of the bag before providing users with directions for claiming their offers.
Levi Strauss & Co. created a pair of 501 Jeans measuring 12 feet tall, nearly five times the size of a normal pair of jeans, which toured five malls in mid-2024. Members of the retailer’s Red Tab loyalty program who showed a picture of themselves with the jeans were eligible for a 40% discount off the price of a regular-sized pair of jeans.
