by Doug Desjardins
Retailers vying for the attention of cost-conscious consumers are testing new formats and resurrecting old gimmicks as the holiday season kicks into high gear.
One of the newest innovations are temporary stores in shopping malls, small outlets that are commonly called “pop-ups.” Toys “R” Us opened 80 Holiday Express pop-ups in October to give the toy retailer a presence in a retail venue it normally doesn’t occupy. 
“We were able to get into some of the finest malls in the country and into some of the spaces that we really wanted to get into, ones we would not have been able to get into in the past,” said Toys “R” Us CEO Gerald Storch, adding that Toys “R” Us sees the downturn in the economy “as an opportunity to strengthen our position as the toy authority.”
Apparel retailer American Eagle is experimenting with a pop-up store for its 77kids brand. It opened a small store at a shopping mall in Pittsburgh for the holiday season that stocks kid’s clothing that is otherwise available only online. And mall-based Limited Brands is taking a different approach with a stand-alone pop-up store it opened for the holidays in a section of New York’s trendy SoHo neighborhood.
The pop-up trend is a product of escalating store closings that - as Storch noted - have opened up prime mall locations. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, retailers closed 6,913 storefronts in 2008 and are on pace to close 6,900 this year. The list includes entire chains that have shuttered, including KB Toys, Circuit City and Linens ‘N Things.
Those closures and the increased rate of vacancies have made shopping mall owners more open to offering retailers short-term leases they would have never considered in the past. “We have always taken the view that we would rather have no vacancies,” said Les Morris, a spokesman for Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the U.S. “But when it happens, it presents a new opportunity.”
Another innovation retailers are testing is law-away plans, an old practice that is making a comeback. Sears Holdings resurrected law-away plans at its Sears and Kmart stores last year and Sears spokesperson Shannelle Armstrong said more than 600,000 people used them .
Toys “R” Us is offering lay-way programs as well. Its plan requires a 20 percent down payment on the purchase price, a $10 service fee and requires final payments to be made Dec. 6. Items are not always on site and can be picked up at stores 7 to 10 days after final payment is made. Storch said the plan is designed to “give shoppers peace of mind that they have reserved the exact item at the top of a loved one’s wish list.”
Resources
Toys “R” Us, American Eagle and Others Bet on Pop-Up Stores
Pop-Up Shops Fill Short Term Niche
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