The Pop-Up Store Model

I like pop-up stores. They feel more like event marketing than retailing. The concept has been around for a few years.

Pop-up store articles at trendwatching.com

Pop-up store articles at Cool Hunting

Lately I've seen a new round of stories. For example:

"Pop-Up Stores Help Brands Build Buzz," Advertising Age, 8/31/09.

"Pop-Up Stores Help Brands Pop," TheStreet.com, 8/26/09.

"London Artists Turn Empty Commercial Space Into Galleries," New York Times, 9/1/09.

"Summer's Top Pop-Up Shops," Forbes, 6/5/09

"High-end retailers 'pop up' then go bye," Marketplace, 5/27/09

So on that note, I'll suggest that you think of your merchandise table as a mini-pop-up store.

The concept isn't totally transferrable, I know. I've sold merchandise at shows. Often you have very little room at the venue. And even if you do, you may have very little room in your car or van to transport merchandise and displays. And even if you can deal with those issues, you may have to hand over your merchandise sales to someone at the venue, therefore giving you little or no control over the display.

Still, I have experimented. For one artist I wanted to move into a full line of clothing. She played a lot of outdoor festivals, so I went looking for a clothing rack that was collapsible and was also sturdy enough to stand up to wind. I did find such a device at an online store that sells them to salesmen who are always on the road and need to set up sample displays. But the artist quit using it after a few months because it was heavy.

Even if most merch displays are bare bones out of necessity, I'll toss out some examples to get people thinking about creative retailing in small spaces. Here are three music related pop-ups:

... downtown’s Regent Theatre is currently being turned into a pop-up record store named Third Man Records, after White’s Nashville-based record label and permanent store there. According to White's manager, Matt Pollack, the store will house various sorts of Third Man Records merch, included limited-edition goods. "It's an opportunity to bring his label and music to the masses," Pollack said. "Jack White's pop-up record store: Get in line," Brand X | Los Angeles Times, 8/25/09.

... the pop up shop's upscale interior outfitted with mohair sofas, suede walls, custom zebra wood cabinetry, a 46-inch flat screen TV, stereo system and a custom gaming zone, is designed to transport the customer into the Jay-Z and high-end Rocawear lifestyle. As part of a campaign to present the Rocawear lifestyle in a slinky setting and to upswing the profile of Jay-Z's brand, the mobile lounge showcases the new premium line of apparel for Rocawear. "Rocawear Mobile RocPopShop," Cool Hunting, 4/09.

The store gives customers a chance to see and feel limited-edition boxed sets, silkscreen posters, fine art photographs, and other merchandise in person rather than rely on the thumbnail images and sound samples that are the currency of the digital domain. "Rhino Pop-Up Store Returns to Retail Roots," Promo, 12/27/07.

There are quite a few companies that make large displays for booths, smaller displays for tabletops, and very portable displays for traveling salespeople. In most cases what they sell is going to be too bulky and too expensive for musicians. But perhaps looking at their catalogues will give you some ideas. Here are a few places to check out. It's by no means a comprehensive list.

Everything Displays

ExpoDepot.com

Displays2go

It's best to experiment before investing too much money into merchandise displays. I've seen a lot of attempts at creativity abandoned after they've been hauled around a bit. Focus on something that is relatively lightweight, can be folded or broken down, and is very sturdy. Also, if you have to prioritize, efficiency is better than looks. It's more important to have a system that keeps your merchandise organized and easy to grab in a hurry and in poor light than one where all your storage space is devoted to a fancy display.

If you have already created a functional and creative music merch set-up and you want to share it, post a link to a photo in the comments section.

Suzanne Lainson
@slainson on Twitter

A Few Thoughts on T-Shirts

The core of all music merchandising is the T-shirt.

And yet, when I went to look for examples of great music T-shirt design, I found remarkably little. There are some classics, like the Rolling Stones tongue logo, but a lot of the designs, even the famous ones, aren't particularly good art. They have become famous because of the bands or the shows, not as free-standing art.

Why are some a hit and others a bust within a similar category? Matt Hautau, vice president, licensing and marketing, for Signatures Network, believes it's difficult to pinpoint why. "We've always found that album sales have absolutely nothing to do with the ability for an artist to really build and support a merchandising program. We have artists who have sold, and who sell, tens of millions [in record sales], but for whatever reason, the connection with that artist is about pure music—not about who that artist is necessarily. Then [there are] other artists whose album sales are good, but they've got that extra offering that seems to resonate with the consumer."

Defining that "extra something" image wise, to whom it relates and translating the two to an actual product or product line is the formula that goes into today's music artist branding. Like all brands, some are well thought out and executed, and others are disastrous. (Although for many music artists, disastrous can simply translate to mediocre junk.) "Selling Branded Merchandise in Music Industry," brandchannel.com, 6/6/05.

Which opens up a lot of opportunity for music T-shirts. Make your shirt designs particularly memorable and chances are people will buy them even if they haven't heard your music or come to any of your shows.

According to Impressions, a clothing industry trade publication, Americans spend around $40 billion a year on decorated apparel. At CafePress, a Web site that lets anyone customize and sell merchandise, users sold more than $100 million in goods in 2007—pocketing $20 million in profits—and overall sales are growing an average of 60 percent a year.

As you might expect, the T-shirt economy is a long tail phenomenon, with comparatively few people making a full-time living while millions earn only a few hundred or thousand bucks a year. On the high revenue end, you've got companies like BustedTees—an offshoot of the funny-video portal CollegeHumor—which, with a staff of eight, expects to clear a 20 percent profit on sales of 350,000-plus shirts for 2008. In the middle are outfits like RightWingStuff, which hawks T-shirts mocking the left. And on the far end of the tail are people like David Friedman, a New York photographer who cooks up three or four witty ideas a year—like his series of T-shirts adorned with fictional corporate logos that are blurrily 'pixelated,' as if on reality TV—and makes just enough money to cover his hosting fees, plus a bit of pocket change. "Clive Thompson on How T-Shirts Keep Online Content Free," Wired, 11/24/08.

To give you some ideas, here's a list of top T-shirt designers.

The most logical place to start for your first T-shirt is your band logo. Hopefully you've picked a good one.

The next logical design might be based on an album cover. Not necessarily a duplicate of the cover, because that might involve more than one color printing, which can get expensive. But perhaps a simpler design using the cover as a theme.

If you have minimal graphics skill and don't want to hire a designer, you might look at royalty-free clip art. Dover carries a nice collection of designs.

Another way to get some creative T-shirt ideas is to invite fans to contribute them. Amanda Palmer has an extensive clothing page on her website. The first T-shirt on the page, Beach Ninja, was designed by a fan. Another example: the T-shirt for Danielle Ate the Sandwich was designed by a fan.

There's considerably more to explore if you plan to make T-shirts a major part of your music income. Here are a few resources.

How to start a Clothing Company

T-Shirt Magazine

Tee Biz

PopCultureTees

Suzanne Lainson
@slainson on Twitter

UPDATE, 7/31/09
To inspire you: ThinkGeek :: Meh Hoodie

UPDATE, 11/28/09
"47 Essential Resources for T-Shirt Designers," GoMediaZine, 11/24/08.

UPDATE, 10/23/10
Read about someone who started out making pins and working part-time in a silk screening business and record shop. Then he started designing t-shirts for bands and was in a band himself. Eventually he went full-time into creating his own t-shirt company that sells his branded cupcake t-shirts nationally. Johnny CupCakes / Story