Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Crafty Pop-Up


At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements.
😉

So I was in the mall (see last Friday's post), and while we were eating lunch, I noticed an empty store. And there was a sign on it about leasing it for a pop-up store. And it got me thinking...

What if there were craft fair-type shops in the mall? What if someone rented one of those spaces and got their fellow crafters together to sell handcrafted goods to mall shoppers? 

12 comments:

  1. That would be a good idea. Probably too late for this year, because I think it would be best to pop-up well before Christmas. At least a sign announcing it coming the day after Thanksgiving. Then the sellers would catch all the shoppers. It would be a great place for you! Maybe some of the booths could be weekends only, or others could watch those not there. You'd be able to do it over your holiday break. Get working on those projects!

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    1. Once I really dug down into it, I saw all sorts of issues that would crop up. It's an interesting idea, but something that would need a few people working on to make it successful.

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    2. Ah, logistics. Too bad it's not easier because this is a great idea.

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    3. I think it would be doable, but someone would have to rent the space and figure out how to allocate the space to those would would sublet from them.

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  2. Right now my friend who designs and sells jewelry had no real responsibility. She pays a fee to the organizer, sets up her table and sells her stuff. She doesn’t have to worry about rent, utilities, insurance, payroll, etc. if she could set up at a mall without any additional responsibility I think she’d do well.

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    1. A craft fair in the mall would work for the crafters. But someone would have to organize it.

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  3. We have a shop in our mall that I think started as a popup that originally sold only goods made in our area code. The last time I was in there they were selling more imports than local. That might say it all. Our mall was dying when the pandemic hit. It's under new ownership now and changes are interesting. The last major tenants to move in were county offices, a craft brewery, and now a fancy gym is under construction.

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    1. Our local malls all seem to have added arcades and gaming destinations and such. I was surprised to find one has a bowling alley in it (along with things like Whack-a-Mole and Karaoke). Yup, the malls are withering at the moment.

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  4. That would a a pop-up that I would love to visit. Hope your day is richly blessed.

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    1. It's an idea someone should do something with ;)

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  5. I would be visiting that store for sure. Actually my mom did some of these back in the 90s but they were in the centre of the mall and she did well selling her faberge style eggs.

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    Replies
    1. Back when malls weren't dying, those spaces were in high demand.

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I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.