Coppell, Texas – Walls + Forms has a solution for vacancies and smaller stores which benefits small and leasing agents plus retailers. The solution is flex retail “pop up” stores that provide a win/win model in a challenging retail environment.

Walls+Forms, Inc., supplies a reusable, temporary, modular store that can easily be adapted to any retail space. It is ideally suited for mall and leasing agents for leasing out a smaller portion of vacant area, reduces unsightly empty stores, and offers cost savings advantages such as monthly lease payment. It is also perfect for retailers that want to downsize and sublease part of their retail space.

At a time when retail landlords are struggling with high vacancy rates, an innovative sales strategy utilized by some tenants is helping them fill the gaps and earn some additional rental income. Pop-up stores, which allow a retailer to sign a temporary lease lasting anywhere from two months to six months, have traditionally been looked down upon at by mall and shopping center owners who could take their pick of permanent tenants. However in today’s environment, with retailers wary of new store openings or downsizing, pop-ups are becoming a hot new trend and landlords are finding it suits them just fine.

More and more retailers are testing out temporary locations vs. the alternative of a long-term lease. It is a win/win because it enables landlords to get good tenants for their vacant space and get them out when they need them out, plus the icing on the cake is they get income as well. For example, large global clothing retailers have secured temporary locations in major markets to test or launch new product lines, media juggernauts have showcased movie related merchandise prior to a big movie premier, and leading chocolate retailers have done pop-up boutiques for Valentine’s Day.

During the holiday shopping season, a major toy retailer has been opening pop-up stores on a national basis. A large footwear chain has been doing pop-ups using the temporary locations to sell leftover merchandise while a large discount retail chain has opened up several temporary bodegas in a major market as a way of establishing a presence there.

Pop-up stores enable retailers to increase revenue during crucial sales periods, such as back-to-school, Halloween and holiday shopping seasons, without taking on the risk of a permanent location. If the temporary stores are successful, they might become permanent stores. Meanwhile, smaller, regional retailers might see temporary stores as a stepping stone to gain access to high-profile retail centers whose landlords would not otherwise view them as viable tenants.

There is a certain level of convenience as well, as most temporary locations don’t require any build-out work, and rental rates tend to be affordable. There’s usually a fixed rental rate that encompasses common area charges and taxes that tends to be about half of what is paid by permanent tenants at the same center, plus a small percentage of sales rental fee, But landlords, fearful about how an empty space in the middle of their property is going to affect shopper traffic, are more than happy with the arrangement. Landlords are flexible today, they are open to any retailer that has a concept and some money because they have empty space and empty space doesn’t pay the rent. Some national retailers have begun to take larger amounts of space for their temporary quarters—pop-ups are even helping fill up some vacancies in big box stores, which have seen lots of bankruptcies and liquidations in recent years.

Shop-in-a-Box offers a multitude of benefits. It is modular, quick and easy to setup and take down, offers multiple configurations with unlimited sizes for store configurations, and offers easy replacement or add-on opportunity. It is economical, simple to specify, and offers great design and color options and a short lead time. Utilizing Shop-in-a-Box, slatwall counters and showcases can be combined to complete a store layout and shipping costs are reduced, since items ship on skids, saving freight expenses. Walls + Forms offers quality engineering, complementary floor plan layouts and assistance, and customer support staff to ensure on time delivery and answer set up questions. CornerForms are a key component of the Shop-in-the-Box concept. They are easy to install, easy to assemble / dismantle and reconfigure. This patented two part fastening system can be used to construct pop-up stores and hundreds of other applications.

For more information, please visit http://tinyurl.com/7e44wtw and http://tinyurl.com/7nmja8y or call the Walls + Forms sales team at 972-745-0800. Walls + Forms Inc., P.O. Box 741112, Dallas, TX 75374-1112 USA. Fax: 972-304-8402. E-Mail: [email protected]

Source: Walls + Forms Inc.