Foreign exchange: New-generation pop-ups add collaboration

London – Now that everyone from Target to Gap has indulged in pop-up retail, helped in part by the plethora of empty shop spaces provided by the fallout from the recession, a new lease of life is being breathed into the temporary shop trend – the swap-up shop.

The Wish You Were Here project sees a group of shops in the Newburgh Quarter of London’s Carnaby Street swap places with a selection of independent boutiques from New York’s Lower East Side, enabling visitors in both cities to get a temporary fix of trans-Atlantic shopping.

‘The Newburgh Quarter and Lower East Side swap is a great story about the strength of the independents and concept stores in both of these areas – most of whom will never have retailed outside of their own country before,’ says Simon Quayle, executive director of Shaftesbury, the group that owns the Newburgh Quarter. The swap will see London stores such as Beyond the Valley, Hurwundeki and Cowshed trade places with New York favourites BBlessing, Reed Space and Earnest Sewn.

‘This project will provide a real point of difference for consumers, creating a compelling and alternative reason for them to visit, as Lower East Side brands will be completely new to the UK,’ Quayle says. ‘It will also be a lifestyle experience with a number of New York-inspired events.’

Swapping, rather than just popping up, adds an element of collaboration to the temporary retail trend, as well as allows brands to test a new market without the risks of long-term contractual commitments. Significantly, swap-up shops maintain the in-the-moment experience for consumers. Next up? Perhaps the Selfridges window display could swap with that of Saks Fifth Avenue so British passers-by could (temporarily) take Manhattan, or London’s famed St John restaurant could switch places with celebrated Parisian bistro Le Comptoir du Relais for new meals across La Manche.