I've done 3 pop-ups in the last year in addition to the 5 craft fairs (I was definitely very infatuated with the idea of meeting customers and selling in-person, but the excitement has faded a little; it's pretty tiring to prep for the events while I'm working all week and then... work all weekend, haha.) Pop ups are a bit different from craft fairs; pop-ups are usually a day versus a whole weekend, you are one of if not the only small business selling product, and they’ll usually provide tables and/or displays. Way less tiring, but (usually) less revenue, as the customer base isn’t as large as craft fairs.
- Morning Lavender's Pop Up | Aug 30 | San Francisco
- West Elm Pop Up | Dec 19 | Emeryville
- Facebook HQ Pop Up | Feb 4th | Menlo Park
Morning Lavender
I was asked by Morning Lavender, a bright and fun clothing boutique, to join them in their first ever Nor-Cal pop up last fall. The ladies of Morning Lavender were all so sweet and fun to work with, and the venue called Blu Bungalow in Cow Hollow was amazing. They paired me with a roomy table draped with lace, in front of a nice brick backdrop, and I got to meet a lot of very well-dressed SF ladies all day and chat with them over sips of wine from Bottle Bracket.
West Elm
I’m very easily excitable, so imagine my reaction when I got an email from West Elm— I'm pretty sure my very loud squeal in the ramen restaurant I was eating in solicited quite a few stares ;) I sold on a holiday Saturday in December, where my forever-Pickles-assistant Jocelyn and I got to dream about our future houses while we chatted with holiday shoppers. We also met really fun dogs.
For this pop-up, I gave away gift tags which definitely drew in customers. The most flattering moments were when shoppers picked up my cards and brought them to the register, thinking they were part of the West Elm brand…!
- Morning Lavender's Pop Up | Aug 30 | San Francisco
- West Elm Pop Up | Dec 19 | Emeryville
- Facebook HQ Pop Up | Feb 4th | Menlo Park
Morning Lavender
I was asked by Morning Lavender, a bright and fun clothing boutique, to join them in their first ever Nor-Cal pop up last fall. The ladies of Morning Lavender were all so sweet and fun to work with, and the venue called Blu Bungalow in Cow Hollow was amazing. They paired me with a roomy table draped with lace, in front of a nice brick backdrop, and I got to meet a lot of very well-dressed SF ladies all day and chat with them over sips of wine from Bottle Bracket.
West Elm
I’m very easily excitable, so imagine my reaction when I got an email from West Elm— I'm pretty sure my very loud squeal in the ramen restaurant I was eating in solicited quite a few stares ;) I sold on a holiday Saturday in December, where my forever-Pickles-assistant Jocelyn and I got to dream about our future houses while we chatted with holiday shoppers. We also met really fun dogs.
For this pop-up, I gave away gift tags which definitely drew in customers. The most flattering moments were when shoppers picked up my cards and brought them to the register, thinking they were part of the West Elm brand…!
I booked a Pop-up at Facebook HQ (unknowingly) on their anniversary (or Friends Day, as Zuck has henceforce declared Feb 4th to be). It gave me a great chance to engage Facebook employees by giving away free postcards that celebrated the company and the brand, featuring Beast (Zuck's dog) and the famous Facebook Fox.
At the end, I was asked to print 500 more because they were so popular! Too flattering, Facebook :) The pop-up itself was insanely successful and fun; whenever I sell in-person I try to bring double of what I think I’ll sell, as it’s always better to be over than under prepared, but I ran out of most of my cards by the end of the day- it seems techies may be a new target market.
The best part about this pop-up was that the relationship continued; a couple months later, I got a PO from Facebook campus store and I am now shipping cards to their headquarters! It’s definitely a large account for me and I’m STILL so excited about it. Hooray for growth!!!
Comments
Hello how do I get in touch with the dacbook popup shops
Hi there! I’d love to learn more about how you were able to schedule a pop-up at the Facebook HQ. Would you share some insights?
thanks!
Amanda