Our First Pop Up Experience
Wow what an experience our first pop up was, it honestly felt like we just blinked and it was all over with. Before anything else, this would not have been possible if not for our good friends at Hunting Ground; Sian and Tina for putting us on. We want to thank them for giving us the opportunity and lending their space to us. We feel inspired by their willingness and ability to uplift other small businesses without hesitation. It was their last day at their flagship store, so being a part of this chapter of their story made it that more special to us.
What seemed like a chaotic week leading up to our pop up was probably an understatement. Hunting Ground had hit us up two weeks prior to see if we were keen and of course we jumped at the opportunity. We sort of didn't know what to expect and how to prepare for it and the two weeks definitely crept up on us. We had only just got our new logo tees back from our local relabeller then had to somehow cram in a shoot while scheduling a very short promo in the last couple of days prior to our pop up. Another big thanks to our friends Tonica, Christian and Mataara for coming through with such short notice and helping us shoot content in literally a day. It really takes a village.
We felt so nervous in the first hour (it’s been a while since me and Pookky had last worked in retail) and we were still getting use to our processes but as we got our first big rush we naturally turned our game faces on (assisted by a few pals bevys to encourage us). It was a real honour meeting some of our followers who had come out to see us, chat to us and buy some pieces from the Friends & Family collection. Ultimately it was a huge success, not just because of the sales but being able to meet new people and tell our story face to face is so valuable and an opportunity that we don’t always get operating as an e-commerce store/online presence. My biggest takeaway is that we definitely need to do more of these events. In saying that, for our first time, there were still many work-ons and things we want to do better next time. It starts right from the ground with better preparation but gaining experience is invaluable and the best way to learn and improve is by making mistakes and rolling with the punches.
By the end of the day, we couldn't believe how mentally taxing doing a pop up would be, for the pop up only being open for 5 hours it sure felt like we had done a 12 hour shift with no break. But that tiredness was also the result of a full stocktake we did in the week leading up, which included individually steaming, folding, tagging and bagging of all our stock then splitting everything into their sizes. It all starts to add up, that's for sure.
Would we do another Fade pop up in the future? For sure. For us that's the goal, to curate a pop up that is an experience above all. From the space we choose, the lighting, the music and dj, how the racks are positioned and how our collection is spread around the store, even the artwork we might use. I think it’s important that all these elements speak to one another so that all our friends and family of Fade get to experience the true essence of the Fade brand. We hope that people will be able to leave having not just purchased some threads but having felt a part of the journey. That for me, is what we anticipate a Fade pop up would be like.