During the depths of the economic downturn, pop-ups flourished, providing platforms for marketers to build brand presence without establishing brick-and-mortar stores. While things are now on the upswing, there are still plenty hoping to boost sales with short-term concept shops. Among them is Harry & David, which is spreading its effort wide with 16 different stores in cities from New York, Boston, and Chicago to Los Angeles, Cleveland, and San Francisco.
The strategy is in part a celebration of the brand's 75th anniversary, but largely an opportunity for the gourmet gifts retailer to target still-cautious shoppers. (A recent survey from Deloitte indicated that while gift spending is up for the first time in six years, consumers are still looking to save money where possible.) The pop-ups opened October 15 and will run through the end of December.
To bolster its effort, Harry & David tapped New York architectural firm the Rockwell Group to design a look that would highlight the company's beginnings as a pear orchard, but was also simple enough to construct in different locations across the country. Weathered flooring and crates, murals of countryside landscapes, live trees, and props like hay bales and wagon wheels added rustic decorative elements to each orchard-inspired store, while painted wooden ladders formed shelving units for the goods.
"We wanted to create an environment that is easy and approachable—like visiting your favorite farm stand, with a twist," said Harry & David's chief brand officer, Ross Klein. "The orchards have a personality and design sensibility that complements our other concept stores, but also pulls directly from our agricultural foundations and our local market farm-to-table heritage. Our products are handpicked and hand-packed, and the orchards reinforce this message, as well as introduce our new packaging innovation and the ability for customers to do the 'harvesting' themselves with the many create-your-own offerings."
Grown from conversations with customers and experience creating temporary gift centers on previous occasions, the orchard pop-ups took more than four months to conceive. "The vision and execution was a collaborative effort to reintroduce Harry & David to America. We've dialed up on quality and creativity, using the pop-up orchards as a great platform to extend our reach and establish a broader customer base," said Steve Hayer, Harry & David's C.E.O., adding that one challenging aspect was tracking down the most optimal sites. "It was difficult to find the right locations. We wanted high-traffic and trendy locations. We were successful finding 16 locations that passed our screens."
The areas chosen include Newbury Street in Boston; the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia; Chicago's Oak Street; Beachwood Place in Cleveland; Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles; and the Columbus Circle holiday market in New York.
According to the Rockwell Group founder and principal David Rockwell, his team only had one week to build each of the pop-ups, adding flooring, paint, murals, and fixtures. "The design was intended and implemented to be a true pop-up; therefore, the construction process was limited to a scope that would not require permitting to execute [except for signage]," Rockwell said. "Installation was quick, and guidelines were universal for each of the locations. Everything came in a box and will easily pack away again when the pop-up is finished."
