The jewelry carts and lotion kiosks that once materialized each November inside American malls bear little resemblance to what pop-up retail has become. Two decades of industry evolution have transformed the format from a holiday placeholder into a calculated business tool embraced by some of the biggest names in apparel, consumer goods and digital commerce.
“Pop-ups have been around for as long as I’ve been in this industry, which is over 20 years,” says Clare Rose, vice president of specialty leasing and partnership marketing at Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, known as PREIT. “They’ve ebbed and flowed and grown with the times — from common area carts and little pop-ups all the way to larger kiosks, vending units and, of course, inline units” (short-term retail storefronts located within a row of permanent, traditional stores).
PREIT, one of the country’s oldest real estate investment trusts and now privately held, owns a portfolio of enclos
