Throwback Thursday: Pop-up Stores Recap

Running pop-up stores to Naiise is like training for marathons to new runners - it is tiring at the start, but once you find the right pace, you will get the hang of it eventually, regardless of how many times you tried. 

For the past year, Naiise has held a total of 7 pop-up stores and showcases. We will be honest with you about how exhausting and taxing they were to the team but one thing for sure, they were all worth the time and effort put in.

We can't thank enough to those who have planted their faith in Naiise and allowed us to grow to who we are today. So read on, as we walk down the memory lane and recap on all the pop-up stores we did for 2014. In case you were wondering, we really waited for today to do a #throwbackthursday. :)

1. Nong Pop-up Store

The start of Naiise's pop-up store routine all began from People's Park Complex's Rooftop Carpark. Known as Nong Pop-up Store, this pop-up store was organised by the good folks from Edible Garden, who gave Naiise a great opportunity to learn the art and beauty of setting up pop-up stores.

Fun fact: Nong Pop-up Store was put together by our founder and marketing director. Yup, just the two of them. That is why, this pop-up store still means a lot to them, even till today. 

2. Transitional___

The second pop-up store saw Naiise at one of the cool industrial spaces in King George's Avenue. Teaming up with Shophouse & Co., Naiise took a step forward and up our game for this pop-up store. For the first time, the team grew to about 10-men strong, and everyone helped to work on the different areas of the pop-up store. We also learnt to source for materials around our hood, like the cable drums you see in the photos above, and getting all hands-on with restoring and making them into our product display, props, and even our signage. We even talked to folks around the area on their thoughts on design and made a short video out of it.

A lot of firsts for this pop-up store and definitely a lot of learning points here. Fun times!

3. TBOT

Organised by The Big Ohm Theory, or in short TBOT,  this weekend-long pop-up store was held at National Design Centre, while we were running our pop-up store at Transitional___. It was a good test on how we split the team for setup and retail for both of the pop-ups. 

4. The Design Supermarket 

By far one of our biggest pop-up stores, The Design Supermarket was held at Orchard Central, and it was a good 3000 sq ft worth of space for us to play with. It was also one of the craziest pop-up stores as most of us were on shift from 11am - 10pm daily. It was fun talking to everyone who came by, even those who didn't know about Naiise and who we are. The fascination and joy on their faces when they discovered products and design that they never knew existed - priceless. 

5. Creatory

Like TBOT, Creatory happened while The Design Supermarket was ongoing. Happened at Tasty Plaza and organised by The Ate Group, this event gathered many various tastemakers in Singapore and housed them in the 8-storey building. The weekend stint was a great experience working with various groups of people who were passionate about what they do, and it was super cool! Not to mention, we were surrounded by tonnes of yummy food and we couldn't be more grateful.

6. Archifest

Out we went into the sun at ArchiFest 2014! For those of you who are not familiar with this, ArchiFest is an annual festival that is initiated by Singapore Institute of Architects, which celebrates Singapore's urban environment. We had fun getting in touch with the nature and embracing the sun, together with our friends at ArchiFest. Suffice to say, we managed to sing the whole light show medley at the end of this showcase. 

7. A Naiise Christmas

 Our final pop-up store for the year, A Naiise Christmas Pop-up Store, was at 72/74 Dunlop Street. That was also the first time the team got a shophouse all to ourselves for the pop-up! This pop-up store was nothing but fun, fun and more fun! We were pysched to have various food partners, such as Jason x Yiyi, Kith Cafe, Morsels and many others, coming in to spice up the space with their good food and company. Many parties were thrown, like the Whole Hog Roast Party, where the boys from Burnt Ends and The Cajun Kings came together to roast two hogs at our rooftop. Music, food and great company - what else can we ask for?

Like what our founder says, "Every pop-up is a learning point." We definitely learnt a lot from every pop-up store and no two pop-up stores are the same, in terms of the customers we encountered, the problems we faced, and the things we tried to improve every time. Thank you guys for your continuous support! Till the next pop-up store. :)