Retail News: BrandBox, Pop Up Stores Filling Empty Mall Storefronts

As more than 140 million square feet of shopping mall retail space has closed across the U.S., mall owners look for ways to transform shopper experience by attracting new and developing online retailers.

One of the country’s largest mall owners, Macerich (MAC) will launch "BrandBox" at Tysons Corner Center in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside of D.C. on Nov. 17. A section of Tysons Corner Center will be set aside for new, emerging young brands and help fill empty mall storefronts.

Tysons’ BrandBox will span 11,000 square feet on the mall’s first floor that may be divided into as many as six pop-up stores. BrandBoxes are designed with portable modular walls, lighting, fixtures and other sections that may be easily redesigned as stores move in and out of the location. Each pop-up shop will be equipped with WiFi, security cameras, sensors and beaconing capabilities to assist retailers in consumer traffic inside and outside the store.

Scheduled to open in the location are Naadam, a cashmere apparel company; Winky Lux, a millennial-targeted cosmetics retailer; Interior Define, a high-end custom home furnishing company; Nectar, the first storefront location for the online mattress company, and farm-fresh flower company, UrbanStems.

DKNY is slated to be the sixth store in the BrandBox directory. The fashion house retailer will use the pop-up concept to test the market and new store scheme.

Matt Scanlan, co-founder and CEO of Naadam, says they view BrandBox as a safe environment to test the brand in a mall environment.

"They have set us up with retail technologies and subscription software that are normally inefficient to install for a pop-up but can be transformative in terms of learning," he said.

Macerich officials say they view BrandBox as a way to assist online-first retailers in testing the concept before investing in a full brick-and-mortar store.

Macerich’s Chief Digital Officer Kevin McKenzie said, “I think what we're learning as an industry is that we need to have a modular space that can be reconfigured. The physical walls within each BrandBox will be removable. Sometimes two companies might fill the space, sometimes seven.”

Many mall owners offer short-term leases, attempting to create a more unique shopping experience. Once grown to a certain size, some online retailers take the opportunity on storefront locations.

Macerich anticipates that successful pop-ups will graduate into permanent storefronts.

The real estate investment company could double the footprint of the BrandBox in Tysons Corner Center in 2019, and it plans to implement the concept at its other malls in Philadelphia, Chicago and Portland, as well as Santa Monica, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona.