If there is one thing that I have learned over the years, it is that the best companies were sometimes born out of necessity. Pop-up stores were never part of my big plan, but they became one of the most powerful parts of my company.
From websites to warehouses
I started my first company Key Internet Marketing, Inc. (Yes, Kim for short), building websites and earning money through affiliate marketing. My first sites were about saving people money, raising my preemie twins, my love for shoes and even my favorite football team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. For more than two decades, those websites paid the bills and let myself work from home long before the work remotely was mainstream.
But when my children grew up and I needed less, I became curious about other business opportunities. In 2016 I started experimenting with shops arbitrage, which led me through the rabbit hole of online arbitration and eventually liquidation. By 2020 I sold my websites and moved my full focus to liquidation. Nowadays we buy truck loads pallets from Target, Macy’s, Dollar General, Walmart and more, resell online. We are in the top 5% of the Sellers of Amazon FBA and quickly grow on Walmart Marketplace.
Where the pop-upid is born
As exciting as was online sales, we eventually came across a common liquidation problem: mountains of inventory that would simply not move online. Damaged packaging, customer returns or articles that were not entirely in the market for Marktplaats started to stack up. Instead of leaving it, I thought, Why not all sell it locally at one set price?
That’s how our $ 5 liquidation pop-up sale was born. Everything was five dollars. We were actually a BIN store before Bin -stores were one thing!
In the beginning we sold flea markets and supplier shows. Then we only rented a small building for pop-ups. In the end we are extensive to our own warehouse, where we now organize the sale of monthly theme. Some weekends everything is $ 5. Other times it is $ 25, or we focus on larger items such as furniture and mattresses.
Regardless of the theme, one thing is consistent: people stand in line before we open. Every sale feels like Black Friday, and we can even be seen in Feminine magazine.
Create urgency and community
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that Scarcity and urgency increases sales. When we experimented with more often open, we lost that energy. People prefer to stand in line all week for a short, exciting window above the relaxed leaves.
It’s not just about the bargains; It is one experience. Neighbors meet in line, families make it an afternoon and people keep coming back, not knowing which treasures they will find.
And when we realized that our clothing was overlooked in the $ 5 free for everything, we launched Bend the trendour liquidation bucket. The same clothing that nobody has picked up for $ 5 now sells for $ 12. We are only open Thursday and Saturday, and just like the pop-ups there is a line at the door. Limited hours, lower personnel overhead and higher observed value work.
Marketing that works
So how do we pack the house every time? Not with radio or newspaper advertisements. Social media is our powerhouse.
- Facebook pages and groups: Groups get more interaction, but you need both. They allow conversations, questions from customers and visibility in the algorithm.
- Events: Each pop-up has its own Facebook events page full of keywords. We run small, hyper-local advertisements (never raised messages-all event advertisements) and focus manually on zip codes around us.
- Contents: Videos of pallets that arrive, unloading forklift trucks, or even quirky “loss leader” items arouse involvement. Sometimes controversy self-help as we sold Snowblowers “AS-IS” for $ 25 and exploded the commentary part.
- Giveaways & Partnerships: We have given away the store credit, collaborated with local cookie makers and even encouraged shares by offering free treats. Small details build great loyalty.
- E -Mail & SMS: Not everyone lives on Facebook. We have built an e -mill list with an open rate of 46% and use Square to collect customer information for future campaigns.
The formula is simple: Urgency + interaction = sale.
Why pop-ups are so powerful
Pop-up stores are not just a way to erase the inventory; They are a way to create Buzz, build community and keep your company flexible. They let you test new ideas, create recurring excitement and to build a loyal supporter without the overhead of a traditional store.
For us they changed excess inventory into opportunities, brought new customers and became a cornerstone of our business model.
And the best part? Pop-ups remind me that the business community doesn’t have to be boring. It can be fun, scrappy and community-driven are still wildly profitable.
Kim has been helping people save time and money online for more than 20 years and is the founder of Savingk.
#power #popup #stores