Space Qube

The Place for Pop-up One Day to Two Month Short Term Lets space-qube.co.uk @space_qube

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Happy New Year everyone! After a very busy and exciting 2013, we can’t wait to tell you about our new projects for 2014 that will help even more businesses to appear on the high street and revive our town centres, so watch this space. Thank you for your continued support and we hope you have a great start to 2014.

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How can popup shops help revive our high streets?

If you missed Alison John's talk at the Small Business Saturday event recently, here is an online version for you to see...

How can popup shops help to revive our high streets? from Space Qube

Written by Alison John - MD and Founder of Space Qube

Alison's Linkedin Profile

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Fantastic event! - Small Business Saturday in Southampton ...

"An outstanding success" was the verdict of the organisers of the first UK Small Business Saturday in Southampton (#Smallbizssatsot) Over 100 people visited the event and were given information and...

Thank you to everyone who came along to the Small Business Saturday event last weekend. We had a fantastic turn out for Space Qube Founder, Alison John's talk on popup shops and lots of interest in the Space Qube project. 

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Join us at the Small Business Saturday event in Southampton - 7th December

Not long now until the Solent Business Growth Network event for Small Business Saturday UK on Saturday 7th December. Small Business Saturday is a grass-roots campaign across the UK that encourages people to shop local and support small businesses in their communities. We will be talking about popup retail at the Southampton event in Southampton Central Library to provide some inspiration to small businesses. Everyone is welcome to come along and get involved so we'd love to see you there! See here for more info: http://sbgn.co.uk/sbs/index.html

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10 ways Space Qube can help Towns and Landlords

Popup retail can be an extremely attractive option for brands, but how does popup benefit towns and landlords? Here we explore just a few of the ways in which the Space Qube model of dedicated spaces for short term retail or promotional activity can add value to high streets and retail units...

1. Attract new brands to the town

By providing an easy to book space on the high street, towns will see a greater variety of brands coming to their town for short bursts of time.

2. Provide variety for shoppers

With new brands “popping up” throughout the year, shoppers will be enticed by the variety of shopping experiences on offer. This could increase new and recurring footfall to the high street through shoppers wanting to know what’s on show next.

3. Revive empty spaces

Empty units don’t need to sit empty. As well as taking on a permanent lease, Space Qube can revive a good quality unit back to life and bring vitality and good quality shopping experiences to the town.

4. Make the town a destination

By bringing good quality and interactive shopping experiences to the high street, Space Qube wants to create a sense of theatre and excitement, making it a must see destination within the area, thus driving more footfall.

5. Help local independent traders

Taking on a full unit lease is often too much of a financial commitment for small independent retailers, but occupying a Space Qube unit for a short space of time can be more realistic. Furthermore, collaborations between a handful of similar independents can create impact and traders can benefit from the shared costs.

6. Publicity

A Space Qube shop will be offering new and exciting things to shoppers constantly and so will attract attention from the local and national press. Space Qube will promote it’s schedule to encourage shoppers to visit and so the local town will naturally benefit from this extra publicity all year round.

7. Overnight changeover reducing trading downtime

Space Qube’s unique shop fitting system allows units to be transformed overnight, thus reducing downtime to a minimum. This means that the shop will be trading throughout the year, with very few gaps.

8. Space Qube is a long term tenant

The risk of short term tenants and the laborious admin and set up procedures of popup shops can put Landlords off. However, Space Qube removes this hassle and risk by taking the lease on full time and sub-letting the space to a variety of brands, thus alleviating the Landlord of any extra work.

9. Gives exposure to tenants who might go on to take a full lease.

Brands often use popup shops to test new locations before committing to a full time lease. With Space Qube’s easy set up model, it’s likely that a greater number of potential full time tenants will be attracted to try the town before going on to take up permanent space on the high street.

10. High quality retailing

Space Qube believes in high quality retailing and so will work with brands to ensure that the shop offers superior shopping experiences that will add value to the unit and the high street as a whole.

Overall, Space Qube can help towns and landlords in a multitude of ways. By bringing high quality shopping experiences and variety to the high street, towns and landlords will see increased footfall, new brands and happier shoppers, thus adding more value and desirability to their location.

Space Qube – PopUp with a difference

Space Qube is looking to fund the first permanent high street space for temporary retail or promotional activity with a further six UK spaces to open before the end of 2016.  Each space is easily transformed using our shop fitting system, bringing a sense of theatre to our ailing high street. Space Qube is currently crowd funding for its first site which will be in a prime location. See the Seedrs website to find out more and invest from £10: www.seedrs.com/startups/space-qube

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A popup shop isn’t just for Christmas

4 reasons popup should be an integral part of your annual marketing plan

Popup shops are very popular during the Christmas period as brands try to take advantage of the extra footfall and drive extra revenue at what is typically the busiest time of year for retailers. However, times are changing and brands are starting to realise the potential that popup spaces can offer all year round.

Rather than seeing popup as a one-off seasonal activity, we at Space Qube believe that brands should embrace the concept throughout the year and use it as an integral part of their annual communications plan. Here we demonstrate why popup will soon become an important part of a brand’s promotional tool box..

1. Increase brand awareness

Popup spaces provide brands with a great opportunity to introduce their products and services to new customers. There are many promotional tools available to brands to increase their reach and brand awareness such as advertising, PR, social media and events, but Popup is starting to become another important communications channel. A temporary space on the high street can be used to engage with customers and promote a brand through physical and memorable experiences that appeal to all of the senses. This experience can then be leveraged through other communications channels to create a powerful and integrated communications campaign.  This can be especially effective for small brands and independents.

Furthermore, this kind of activity shouldn’t be limited to just one venue. By creating the same experience in multiple locations via a roadshow or multiple popups at the same time, the effect is amplified even further. This is difficult for brands to achieve at present, but Space Qube will provide brands with multiple locations that they can book through one entity quickly and easily in order to create a nationwide campaign.

2. Launch a new product or service

With so many brands shouting for attention, it can be hard to break through the noise and be heard within today’s hugely competitive market. This is a problem for many brands when launching a new product or service and especially for smaller brands who don’t have the budget for TV commercials or mass online advertising. However, customers do still use the high street to find inspiration and discover new things,

“Humans are social creatures hungry for experience. As much as we love to research products via QR codes, engage with friends and retailers via our Facebook pages, and collect music in our cloud libraries, it is all too easy to forget that there’s still a special place in our lives for the retail store. Stores are where we learn what’s new, find inspiration, and see other purchase choices we may not have found online.”

Jez Frampton, Global Chief Executive Officer, Interbrand.

Popup provides brands, large and small, with a unique, distinctive and cost effective launch platform, from which they can inspire customers with their new offering. And, again, this doesn’t have to be limited to a single location. By planning presence in multiple sites nationwide, brands can create widespread excitement by leveraging PR, online and social media messaging from this popup activity.

3. Drive online sales

Despite the increase in online shopping, customers still want the opportunity to see, touch and feel products before they buy. Recent research compiled by Groupon Works revealed that there is still a demand for physical stores with 58% of consumers preferring to shop on the high street rather than online.

“Despite the rise in online shopping and self-service technology that businesses should support, it seems that the back to basics approach of having physical stores and specialist staff on hand is critical, as consumers want to emotionally connect with the brand, talk to experts and physically see and touch products.”  

Richard Jones, VP of national accounts, Groupon UK and IE.

As a result of temporary high street presence, online retailers often see an increase in online traffic, so by integrating popup with online activity, it can provide a significant boost to online sales.

4. Boost customer engagement

Today’s consumers are savvy and demanding and it’s not enough to simply place an advert and hope that they walk into your shop and buy. Customers want to be entertained and have memorable experiences related to your brand.

“Today, what we're doing is we're moving to an experience economy where what consumers want are experiences-memorable experiences which engage them in an inherently personal way."

Joe Pine, author of "The Experience Economy"

Popup spaces offer you a blank canvas to create your stage. You can bring your brand to life whether its through multimedia, technology, activity participation or visual stimulation. Brands can be creative and engage with their customers in a way that they couldn’t achieve through other promotional channels.

Overall, popup shops and temporary high street venues, are becoming an important part of the future of retail and of marketing communication campaigns all year round. By successfully integrating this engaging customer activity with online, brands will satisfy consumers’ ever growing need for multi channel shopping experiences. Currently, this kind of activity is difficult to do on a large, nationwide scale due to complicated leasing arrangements and setup costs. However, Space Qube is set to embrace this opportunity and provide brands with multiple well managed sites for temporary occupation, making nationwide popup campaigns possible and effective.

Space Qube – PopUp with a difference

Space Qube is looking to fund the first permanent high street space for temporary retail or promotional activity with a further six UK spaces to open before the end of 2016.  Each space is easily transformed using our shop fitting system, bringing a sense of theatre to our ailing high street. Space Qube is currently crowd funding for its first site which will be in a prime location. See the Seedrs website to find out more and invest from £10: www.seedrs.com/startups/space-qube

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Space Qube founder Alison John tells Real Business about her plans for Space Qube and her thoughts on future of the high street. Read the interview here:

http://goo.gl/83HCDy

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Space Qube Support at Pop Up Summit, London

A few weeks ago Space Qube attended Pop Up Britain’s “Pop Up Summit” in London. This very useful and insightful day featured an impressive lineup of speakers including big players from the retail and popup industry as well as the business press. Topics of discussion covered everything from setting up local popup shops to how popup works for landlords, and from the effect of technology on popup to the effect of popup on the high street. The best bit of it overall though, was that a lot of what was said supported the Space Qube concept and we are even more confident that there is a need for a more rounded popup service. 

Here are some of the most interesting snippets of conversations from the day…

- "Popups are helping liberate the concept of 'consumer' - now we buy socially and smarter. Mobile helps us share"@Holition via We Are Popup

- "Big retailers are now looking to small Independents for inspiration"@jpl1972 via Appear Here

- “Roger Wade@boxpark challenges the govt to give biz rate relief for three months if he offers free rent”@PopUpBritain 

- Tenants want more security from popup spaces being re-allocated to permanent tenants before their shop opening.

- Popups for online retailers are best used to drive increased website traffic. Many online retailers at the summit have benefited in this way.

- Organisations are starting to look at popup in a more strategic way and are also considering long term pop-up (Crown Estate).

- Having enough stock and a broad range of products helps popup shops to appeal to the widest possible audience (Glen Fulton Mall).

- The opportunity to crowd fund for a space in a popup can be provided by Space Hive and other Crowd Funding Platforms such as Seedrs

- There is a trend for big retailers to draw inspiration from small independents and use them to aid innovation.

- Smaller brands are using popup to communicate direct with the customer rather than through big retailers.

- Popup is helping new businesses to get started and can provide big opportunities. For example, Tim Williams set up Yrstore just off Carnaby street 4 months ago and is now in Liberty.

“Overall there was an overwhelming positivity towards popup activity and the response to the idea of Space Qube was also very positive.  We are working to build relationships with the contacts made at this event to further develop the business and to help establish the first SPace Qube unit with the best resources and support possible.” Alison John, Founder, Space Qube

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Richard Cook Joins Space Qube…

We are pleased to announce that Richard Cook has joined the Space Qube team as Business Advisor and Mentor.

Richard has made a career out of starting businesses from scratch, building them up and selling them on. His achievements to date include building one of the largest independently owned chains of estate agents, a successful publishing business, a chain of bars and restaurants, the largest chain of cheque cashing shops and a nationwide loans business.

Richard has joined the team at Space Qube as he recognizes the potential of the Space Qube model. He said ‘this retail model has the potential to expand to six stores and more in three years, generate a profit without further dilution of the equity and create a revolution on the high street!

You can read his full profile on LinkedIn:

http://goo.gl/tRHq9W

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How can popup activity help new businesses? - Business Mentor, Richard Cook, tells us...

"Retail shopping is going through the biggest change ever and desperately needs something new - I think it's arrived in Space Qube!" Richard Cook

Richard Cook is a business mentor for Space Qube’s Founder Alison John. We asked him to give us an insight into the benefits of mentoring and his thoughts on how popup activity can help new businesses...

Q. What is business mentoring?

A. Business mentoring is about having someone who has been there and done it before. They are there to guide you through the challenges that you will face during the startup and growth of your business.

Q. What type of businesses have you helped through mentoring?

A. Many different types. I believe that all businesses have two major component parts - one is an in-depth knowledge of your specific sector and the other is business skills. I bring the later to the party. I've owned many very diverse businesses and I mentor even more, but the basic building blocks are the same in most. If you have a good understanding of the key building blocks then your chance of success will be greatly improved.

Q. How can new businesses benefit from mentoring?

A. Sadly, most people finish their education with very little practical knowledge for the business world . Even if you have had the benefit of some training, putting it into practice is often a different matter. The benefit of having someone who has been there and done it all before really pays dividends, enabling you to expand quicker and make less costly mistakes, as well as provide a wealth of useful contacts and connections gained from 30 years in business.

Q. What are your views on popup shop activity?

A. Alison's twist on the concept of pop up shops, I think, is one of the most exciting new ideas to hit the retail shopping arena. Retail shopping is going through the biggest change ever and desperately needs something new - I think it's arrived in Space Qube.

Q. How can Space Qube benefit new businesses?

A. Most businesses can't justify the huge costs of prime retail space. Space Qube brings prime retail space within the reach of many retailers who could have previously only dreamt of getting their products on the high street. It is also ideal for product launches and seasonal sales.

Q. What is your top tip for new businesses just starting out?

A. You must have a strong differentiator. You must really understand your customer and your route to market to them. You have to be very analytical of all your processes and costs within the business and you should employ and motivate the best people you can afford.

Q. How can a new business find a suitable mentor?

A. The UK’s largest mentoring group is Rockstar Mentoring who have some of the country's most successful businessmen now mentoring for them. The personality fit needs to be right and they will be able to introduce you to the mentor most suitable for your needs.

Richard Cook

Richard has made a career out of starting businesses from scratch, building them up and selling them on. His achievements to date include building one of the largest independently owned chains of estate agents, a successful publishing business, a chain of bars and restaurants, the largest chain of cheque cashing shops and a nationwide loans business. Richard is currently a non-executive director on a number of boards across a diverse range of businesses. As a mentor, Richard brings a huge range of experience to the table as well as incredible passion for business. See www.rockstargroup.co.uk for more information.

Space Qube

Space Qube is the permanent place for pop-up retail offering one day to two month short term retail lets. Space Qube is currently crowd funding for its first site which will be in a prime location. See the Seedrs website to find out more and invest from £10: www.seedrs.com/startups/space-qube

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10 Uses for Popup Spaces

Popup spaces are a blank canvas for any sort of promotional activity. Brands and companies can use them in any way they choose, according to what the best way is to and reach out to their customers and deliver their objectives. However, there are some dominant trends in how popup spaces are being used and here we’ve pulled together our top ten...

1. Test a new retail location

A popup shop is a great way for brands to test a new retail location without the commitment of a long-term lease.

For example, Toys R Us opens multiple popup stores over the Christmas period and some have been so successful that the retailer has set up permanent stores in those locations.

2. New product launch

A great asset to any launch campaign, a popup shop can create buzz and excitement around a new product or service, especially if an element of theatre and entertainment is involved to make it a memorable experience for customers. It can also present opportunities for increased press interest.

For example, Topshop is planning to launch its Kate Moss collection using 60-70 popups in the US this year.

3. Test “Bricks and Mortar” retailing

Online retailers can test their offering on the high street and directly interact with customers by using popup spaces. This could provide them with invaluable insight and feedback as well as help them to reach new customers that might not have found them otherwise.

For example, Ebay famously offered its customers the chance to browse items in a popup shop before buying from their online auction website.

4. Run an exhibition

Popup spaces provide the perfect opportunity to create a temporary gallery in perhaps unexpected locations. With the freedom to use the space with fewer constraints than a gallery, exhibitors can create a memorable and interactive show for their audience.

For example, Imagination in Space will open its American Dreams gallery on London’s Warren Street on 17th October for just 10 days.

5. Trial a small business start-up

Start-up businesses can use a temporary popup space to present their products or services without the commitment of a long-term lease. These projects quite often turn into permanent shops once the vendor sees the viability and potential of a bricks and mortar retailing environment for their new brand.

For example, Popup Britain have brought lots of UK based small businesses together to open collaboration popup shops that offer an exciting mix of British products to customers.

6. Hold an event

Whether it’s a product launch, seasonal party or a special promotion, popup spaces can be used to host unique and memorable events in an unconventional location.

For example, Tanquery celebrated the 100th birthday of Charles Tanquery using a popup Gin Palace. With live music and cocktail tasting, the event created an exciting buzz around the brand.

7. Seasonal promotions

For some brands, certain periods of the year, such as Christmas, can warrant increased promotional activity. A presence on the high street during this high footfall and high spending time can pay dividends for brands who occupy a popup space.

For example, Jack Wills will be opening popup shops across the UK and the US this Christmas to take advantage of the festive shopping season.

8. Workshops

Delivering memorable experiences for customers is becoming increasingly important for brands and workshops can be delivered in a popup space for a temporary period in an easily accessible and highly visible location.

For example, the Jotta Sweatshop Fashion Workshop offered a temporary workshop for those who wanted to try their hand at making their own fashion pieces during London Fashion Week.

9. Charity

Charities and associations can benefit hugely from occupying a popup space to promote their cause in a unique way and without the high cost.

For example, Children in Need opened a popup shop to raise awareness of its annual fundraising event.

10. Brand awareness

Lastly, popup spaces can provide brands with a great opportunity to reinforce their brand values. By creating exciting and memorable experiences, brands can interact with their customers and create resonance.

For example, J.Crew opened a popup store for just 48 hours to promote the arrival of its new flagship store arriving a few months later.

Overall, popup spaces are highly adaptable and can accommodate practically any kind of retail, promotion, event or interactive activity. It’s this versatility which is so appealing to companies and brands who want to reach out to their customers through a direct channel which is interactive and engaging. The possibilities are endless and without the financial constraints of a long-term lease, popup spaces offer brands a flexible opportunity to deliver quick, yet impactful bursts of activity, whatever it may be.

Space Qube

Space Qube is the permanent place for pop-up retail offering one day to two month short term retail lets. Space Qube is currently crowd funding for its first site which will be in a prime location. See the Seedrs website to find out more and invest from £10: www.seedrs.com/startups/space-qube

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Why is location important to popup?

"In the brick-and-mortar retail world, it's said that the three most important decisions [you'll make] are location, location and location. Careful determination of new sites is critical for most retail and consumer service businesses." Irene Dickey, Lecturer in Management and Marketing at the University of Dayton, Ohio, via Entrepreneur.com.

Pop up shops are often found at the bottom of a quiet lane, in a near-to-derelict end of a high street or in a small unit that is rarely frequented by passersby. However, as the concept of popup becomes mainstream, we are seeing more examples of retailers and brands “popping up” in high quality locations. Here we consider some of the reasons why the location of a popup shop is so important to its success.

Get in front of the target customer

This is the single most important factor for retailers and brands when considering opening a popup shop. If you’re not going to get your target customer walking through the door then you might as well shut up shop and go home now. So, for premium, up-market and even mid-market brands, being in a high footfall area with an affluent population who appreciate quality and are willing to pay a premium for good customer service and great products, is vital.

Don’t hide from the competition

It may be daunting to set up shop in close proximity to competitors but this can provide lots of opportunities to new businesses. Competitors will already have a steady flow of customers visiting their shop which in turn will deliver a good supply of a brand’s target audience to the door. New brands can capitalise on this by demonstrating to passersby why their offering is superior and of better value. Plus, the temporary aspect of a popup shop will create an element of curiosity amongst shoppers who may want to try something different from their usual commodities or services.

Be true to your brand

Being seen in the right place and amongst the right kind of fellow retailers is extremely important to how shoppers perceive a brand. Placing a premium brand in a low quality location can be damaging to its appearance and may cause more harm than good. If customers expect a high quality offering from a brand then they will expect to see it within a superior shopping location, whether this is a charming market town or a high quality shopping centre.

Appeal to the crowd

The temporary nature of a popup shop means that high footfall is also an important factor. Not only do you need to be in front of the right type of shopper, but there needs to be enough volume to justify a shop’s existence. Brands can of course promote a shop through advertising and social media to encourage shoppers to make a special visit to the store whilst it is open, but passing traffic is invaluable to increasing awareness of a new brand or promotion.

These are just some of the reasons why location is important to popup and Space Qube will be looking to fulfil all of these requirements and more when securing their first retail unit for popup. However, it’s also important to note that location is not the only significant factor when setting up a popup shop. Merchandising, experience, interior design, customer service, marketing and an integrated online presence are all essential to its success and Space Qube will work closely with tenants on all of these aspects to deliver outstanding popup experiences.

Space Qube

Space Qube is the permanent place for pop-up retail offering one day to two month short term retail lets. Space Qube is currently crowd funding for its first site which will be in a prime location. See the Seedrs website to find out more and invest from £10: www.seedrs.com/startups/space-qube

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Article: Pop-Up Shop Innovator "Space Qube" to Raise £110,000 in Equity - Crowdfund Insider

Space Qube, an innovator in the temporary or "pop-up" shopping space for premium shopping locations is looking to crowdfund capital and they are going to S

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Join Space Qube

Today we're launching our crowd funding campaign to raise funds for the first Space Qube retail unit which will be sub-let on a short term basis to a variety of retailers in the form of pop-up shops. 

Investments of £10 upwards are welcome and every bit helps so get involved and become a part of our exciting new venture! Click here to invest in Space Qube>

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Join the Pop-up discussion

How can Pop-up benefit our high streets?

The Pop-up shop trend continues to grow ever strong and we’re pleased to hear this week that our friends across the pond are seeing the long term potential of Pop-up too with The Grid, assisted by Storefront, discussing the benefits of using Pop-up as part of property strategy - take a look at their blog post  -  The Grid Blog

Plus, we enjoyed Robert Peston’s final look at Retail last night on BBC 2 (Episode: Revolution) that reinforced the message that Pop-up is essential to creating some much needed theatre in our shopping environment. Whether it’s on the high street, shopping centre or online, we agree that pop-up can provide this element of theatre and excitement in abundance.

These two great examples of how pop-up is growing in popularity, help to demonstrate that if you remove all the infighting about why our high streets are suffering, you will find a growing number of small independents providing something different and it is pop-up space that is helping many of these small retailers access physical space otherwise out of reach.  Big brands too see the benefit of reducing their property portfolio and using pop-up space to strengthen their brand message.  If we allow things to sort themselves out organically, we should see a more exciting shopping experience with a mix of online and offline, better customer service and those shops that are no longer viable, put to better use. 

Join the discussion on Twitter Sept 18th 2013 8pm BST by following the hashtag #thegrid, plus watch Robert Peston Goes Shopping on BBC iPlayer, BBC 2 here>

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The 1st Space Qube Pop Up Shop

These photos are of our fabulous pop-up shop at Whiteley Shopping Centre that was open for just one week for the Hampshire Fare Food Festival in July 2013

Click on the image above to see