Pop up shops are coming to Hamilton Place Mall this holiday season. Local boutiques and retailers will be renting out space in the mall one week at a time for an opportunity to showcase their merchandise to a wide audience, and to complete alongside nationally recognized stores during the busiest shopping season of the year.
CBL Properties, the owners of Hamilton and Northgate malls, launched a pop-up shop initiative in 2017 within their various locations across the country, generating approximately $600,000 in extra revenues and supplying small retailers an opportunity for large-scale business. This year, that pop-up initiative has come to Hamilton Place.
For $1,000 per week, retailers that rent out the space are provided with a great location, dressing rooms, manakins, marketing tools, and anything else they may need to operate a successful storefront.
Taylor Bostwick, the marketing director for Hamilton Place and Northgate Mall, explained that each pop-up shop is assisted with a marketing campaign that includes signage, internet exposure, and an advertisement on the mall's Interstate-75 readerboard, which is passed by 90,000 vehicles every day.
"We help them amplify their content to help people know they are here for a week," Bostwick says. "We create awareness of their stores, and sprinkle it throughout [our marketing channels] to keep their momentum going."
Many of the pop-up shop retailers are online-based without a brick-and-mortar store, so a physical location will be a very different way of doing business.
Boswick and Taffany Britton, the mall's specialty leasing manager, give some advice to the incoming retail owners.
"We set retailers up to be successful, but they have to come in with a good attitude," says Bostwick.
"Be an ambassador for your own brand, and [excel in] customer service," advises Britton. "Customer service is everything when competing with an online market. The more they bring in their personality, the more customers can connect with them."
Each pop-up shop will be located in the storefront next to Bath & Body Works.
Here is a list of four pop-ups coming soon to Hamilton Place for all your holiday shopping needs:
* Thrive Boutique. Nov. 4-17, Dec. 2-8, Dec. 23-29.
Thrive Boutique is a women and children's apparel retailer that carries only the best in current fashion trends. From maxi dresses to rompers, graphic tee's and high-waisted jeans, this boutique has it all.
Thrive Boutique has a brick-and-mortar store located in Huntsville, Alabama, but is known for facilitating pop up shops around the southeast as well. After a successful pop up in Hamilton Place Mall last August, they will be reappearing again for three weeks this holiday season, now with their collection of fall and winter apparel and accessories.
Photography by Emily Bradford / Coyote Cove's signature products include soaps — all handmade and scented with essential oils — aromatherapy oils, sprays and roll-ons, moisturizers, salts and scrubs.* Coyote Cove. Nov. 18-24.
Red Bank resident Emily Bradford loved Coyote Cove's homemade body care products so much that she decided to buy the company when its former owners wanted to sell. With all the recipes passed down to her, plus some original creations of her own, Bradford has continued the business's dedication to handmade, all-natural products and stayed true to Coyote Cove's mission of holistic care.
Coyote Cove's signature products include soaps - all handmade and scented with essential oils - aromatherapy oils, sprays and roll-ons, moisturizers, salts and scrubs, plus so much more. All the products are homemade with natural, plant-based ingredients, and have no artificial coloring or scents.
"Part of my mission is to have healthy, holistic options that are also affordable," says Bradford. "People talk about eating healthy, but what you put in your body is just as important as what you put on your body."
Coyote Cove does a majority of its business online, and this will be the first pop up shop that Brandford will host. During the pop-up, Coyote Cove will launch one of its newest creations: an essential oil reed diffuser, which is not yet available on its online store.
Photography by Matt Schroeder / Shelly Cove carries a range of apparel and accessories, such as t-shirts, hats, totes, jewelry, metal straws and fleeces. All of the products are designed around the theme of sea turtles, and a portion of all profits are donated to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in North Carolina.* Shelly Cove. Nov. 25 - Dec. 1.
Owning a retail store with a purpose was always Matt Schroeder's dream. So, four years ago, he partnered with his father Richard to open Shelly Cove - a preppy clothing brand with a focus around sea turtle rehabilitation. The father and son duo started their business in their hometown in North Carolina, where Matt had grown up, but have since moved their base to Chattanooga after Matt finished college at Covenant University.
Shelly Cove carries a range of apparel and accessories, such as t-shirts, hats, totes, jewelry, metal straws and fleeces. All of the products are designed around the theme of sea turtles, and a portion of all profits are donated to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in North Carolina. Plus, with each purchase, the customer is presented with a sea turtle tracker card that has a tracking code linked to a turtle at the rehab center. The customer can enter the information on the card into the website, and is able to see where the turtle is and how it is doing at the hospital. This gives customers a real look at how their purchases are helping the animals.
Shelly Cove will be in Hamilton Place during Black Friday, and will have Black Friday sales and promotions on many of its goods.
"We are really excited to be there during one of the busiest shopping times of the year," says Matt Schroeder. "We are excited to get our name out there. Our goal is to have fun and engage with our customers because we are an online brand and we don't really get to do that."
Schroeder says that he wants to make sure the company's brand and mission is fully transparent for the pop-up, and is looking forward to telling customers about how they can help save the sea turtles.
Photography by Annette Alsobrooks / Lake Folks features products such as short- and long-sleeved t-shirts, crew neck sweatshirts, ball caps, coolers, backpacks, floatable key chains, and more.* Lake Folks. Dec. 9-15.
"I grew up going to the lake. It's always been a special part of my life," said Lake Folks owner Annette Alsobrooks. "I wanted to turn our lifestyle into a business."
And so, she did.
With the help of her husband and children, Alsobrooks started Lake Folks in 2016 as an upscale brand for anybody who loves going out on the lake.
Lake Folks features products such as short- and long-sleeved t-shirts, crew neck sweatshirts, ball caps, coolers, backpacks, floatable key chains, and more. Aslobrooks's family dog, Hudson, is Lake Folk's mascot, and can be seen on many of the company's products. Using Hudson and his fanbase as inspiration, Lake Folks will soon be starting a line of dog products like collars and other accessories.
"We are selling to such a casual, fun lifestyle, and we love that," Alsobrooks says.
Mostly based online, Lake Folks also travels to various festivals and boat shows to sell their goods. This December will be their second pop up shop in Hamilton Place, and they are looking forward to this second time around.
"We go the extra mile to make sure everything is great quality," Alsobrooks says. "Just come out and see the quality of our products, and give us a shot."
Lake Folks's brick-and-mortar studio is currently in the works, and will be up and running soon. Within the next five years, Alsobrooks hopes to expand to a large plaza on the lake and sell products such as novelty gifts, outdoor furniture and lighting, housewares, and other large-scale items at a location in which customers can come and spend the day at the lake while shopping for Lake Folks products.
But for now, Alsobrook and her crew at Lake Folks are excited to continue marketing their products and building brand awareness.