An empty store in the town center is a problem everyone sees and nobody solves quickly. Letting it takes time. Interim use rarely pays off. And a shop that is only open until Christmas adds up for no retailer who has to buy and pay for the goods first.
The town of Rhede wanted to try anyway: an empty space in the town center, brought to life until Christmas. Together with Spreat it became a pop-up store where eight brands from the surrounding area showed their products - without anyone having bought them first.
Ten days from the first crate to the till
The first goods went out on the shop floor on 12 November, and the store opened on 22 November. Ten days - for an assortment that would have taken months through a normal listing.
That works because nothing is bought. The brands place their goods, the goods stay their property, and the store sells them through its till. No sales meeting, no negotiation round, no incoming invoice.
- 8
- brands from the region
- 449
- products on the shop floor
- €0
- spent on stock
crafts, candles, stationery, decorations
2,322 units, restocked throughout
the goods stayed the brands' property
What was on the shop floor
449 items, 2,322 units: candles, woodwork, cards, decorations, small things to give away. The average price was €9, and 420 of the 449 items cost less than €30 - a Christmas assortment, not a furniture store.
The commission was 25% throughout. Restocking continued to the very end: 111 deliveries were spread across the whole run, with the last arriving in the final week.
Four weeks, seventeen trading days
It was open Wednesday to Saturday, from 22 November to 20 December. In those seventeen days, 883 items went through the till across 537 purchases.
The strongest days were the first and the last: 120 items sold on the opening Saturday, 98 on the closing Saturday. In between, the store ran steadily - around fifty items on every trading day.
- 883
- items sold
- 17
- trading days
- 111
- restocking deliveries
across 537 purchases
Wednesday to Saturday
assortment topped up until the final day
“With Spreat I can see all my sales in real time, and it almost became addictive to check the system several times a day.”
Petra DingsPapier Dings, one of the eight brandsWhat that means for a town center
Four weeks is too short for a listing. Anyone building an assortment in that time has no room for sales meetings, negotiation rounds and delivery agreements - the goods have to be on the shop floor in days, not months.
That is exactly where the marketplace principle helps a town: no buying, no tied-up capital, no risk on leftover stock. What remains is the work you want to do anyway - fitting out the space, opening the doors, running the store.
And eight brands from the surrounding area that would otherwise never get a window in the pedestrian zone stood right in the middle of it for four weeks.
