Appear Here launches pop-up shop competition

Pop-up marketplace Appear Here is offering retail entrepreneurs the chance to win two-weeks of prime retail space in Central London after launching its ‘Space for Ideas’ competition.

The competition is calling for brands to pitch their idea to win one of three London shops for a two-week period rent free this August. Each pop-up is located in a different area of London – Covent Garden, Shoreditch and one on the King’s Road, and each winning entry will receive 3,000 pounds from mobile provider and sponsor EE towards the shop fit out, as well as an EE 4G connected tablet, smartphone and mobile payment device for the duration of the store opening.

In addition, each pop-up winner will also receive up to 20,000 pounds of advertising space in the Evening Standard, and a day of mentoring from experts in the retail industry to find out how to take their ideas to the next level.

Appear Here launches inaugural ‘Spaces for Ideas’ competition

Ross Bailey, CEO and founder at Appear Here, said: “Marc Jacobs, Jamie Oliver and even Apple have launched shops through our site, though the majority of our community are independents looking to bring their ideas to life. We’re launching the inaugural Space for Ideas competition to give away three shops to find the three biggest brands of tomorrow.

“Some of the most exciting retailers and start-ups of the moment started out in Appear Here’s spaces, from Finery London to Crosstown Donuts and PRESS London. This summer we hope to find three more at the start of their journey.”

To apply, applicants need to pitch their ideas for the pop-up store via Appear Here’s website, and entries will be judged by a panel of leading retail names including Cambridge Satchel Company founder Julie Deane, Ceviche founder Martin Morales, fashion entrepreneur and TV broadcaster Dawn O’Porter, Serge DeNimes founder and Made in Chelsea star Oliver Proudlock, and Appear Here CEO Ross Bailey.

Closing date for entries is June 29 and winners will be announced at Appear Here’s summer party on July 16, to open their two-week pop-up on August 11.

In the last year, Appear Here has launched more than 750 pop-up shops in London, including 85 in the West End, and new research from competition sponsor EE reveals that almost a third of new businesses launched in the UK over the next two years will start life as a pop-up shop.

The poll of 2,000 consumers revealed that 29 percent were planning to start a business within the next two years, with 29 percent adding that they would do so by launching a pop-up store to test out the market and hone their product offering. If the data is extrapolated across the UK, there will be 11.6 million start-up entrepreneurs creating 3.4 million pop-up shops by 2017.