Brown will bring his mid-century modern wares to a new audience hopefully ready to shop for the holidays.
“We wanted to do something different,” he said. “It was affordable, so we thought we’d give it a shot and thought it would be fun to be a part of, too.”
RetrOKC is one of 30 vendors — and one urban Christmas tree lot — that will take part in the Oklahoma-owned shopping village for four consecutive weekends, starting Black Friday and lasting through Dec. 22. The sellers rotate weekly, encouraging return shoppers to the geodesic domes, 1000 N. Walker Ave., with free admission to the public.
The Holiday Pop-Up Shops’
visionary is Allison Barta Bailey, a local retail consultant for stores
and districts who curates the venue.
“We
are doubling the number of local shops that will be represented, and we
are adding a set of heated geodesic domes that shops will be housed
in,” Bailey said. “There is an excitement, both for the shop owner and
the shoppers, to the temporary aspect of the shop. Items found in a
pop-up might not be available outside of that event.”
By
nature of their brief existence, pop-up shops have the feel of
old-fashioned markets, enabling stores from all over the metro to move
some merchandise to a temporary home, likely in a new ZIP Code, with
enthusiasm.
On a
larger scale, the pop-up or “flash retail” movement began roughly a
decade ago, with corporations in America and abroad utilizing the
strategy to show off new brands or limited merchandise in an event
setting. Eventually, the movement included small businesses and became
more sophisticated both in location, point of sale and social-media
marketing components.
For
its first weekend, the congregation of unique boutiques brought
together Gretta Sloane, a lifestyles boutique in Nichols Hills, along
with Western Avenue women’s shoe store Heirloom Shoe. Next, unique
plants and handcrafted florals will be on hand, thanks to Birdie, while
Made in Oklahoma foods can be purchased from Native Roots Market.
Myriad of choices
With
annual Downtown in December festivities happening through the New Year,
shoppers will have more to do and see than in years past. This year,
the Myriad Botanical Gardens will host Winter Shops at Myriad Gardens
with outdoor kiosks on its Great Lawn.
Oklahoma’s
Red Dirt Emporium, Full Circle Bookstore and Calamity Jane’s Funk &
Junk are a few of the participating participating.
“It’s
very complimentary. The more fun downtown things, the better. We hope
people go to both markets,” said Maureen Heffernan, executive director
of the Myriad Gardens Foundation.
With
Holiday Pop-Up Shops moving spots, Heffernan said the Myriad Gardens
still wanted to offer holiday shopping this year, which is where
Prodigal, owned by Bob Funk Jr., came in to develop the beautiful,
high-quality kiosks that can be used again after this holiday season
wraps up.
Thanks to
Bishop John Carroll School Christmas Tree Lot, urban shoppers can nab
the perfect tree at the Holiday Pop-Up Shops, as well as get their gifts
wrapped at Neoporter Gift Wrapping Station.
Both
concepts enjoy tremendous support on social media channels like Twitter
and Facebook, with followers tagging participating merchants who, in
turn, cross-promote fellow participants.
For the full list of vendors and hours at Holiday Pop-Up Shops, visit okcpopups.com.
For the Winter Shops at Myriad Gardens, visit myriadgardens.com.
