Phaidon ‘pop-up’ stores

Posted by Fabio 25 November 2009

Phaidon can be seen as the latest example of a trend which has been appearing across the UK from restaurants to night clubs over the last months. However, this is the first time a book publisher has gone down this route, and timely in advance of Christmas shopping.
This is an interesting move within a struggling publishing industry – a stand out decision to go into retail and open their own flagship stores as opposed to just stocking through Waterstones, Amazon etc.

Phaidon is a strong cultural brand so has that strength to stand out on high street as an already well-loved and acclaimed book publisher with long history (est. 1923), but it also reflects a wider view on how pop-ups work well economically – short term use of otherwise empty spaces, cheaper rents and less risk as no long commitment to a lease.

There are a number of recent and forthcoming London examples which support this trend:

– Selfridge & Co. offering pop up boutiques within the store – recently with Dazed & Confused magazine / Edun jeans as well as their pop up restaurant on the roof.
– Marmite shop on Regent Street for 10 weeks.
– All I Want For Xmas – pop-up department store at Truman Brewery which opens on 26 Nov for 4 weeks.
– fashionable restaurant Bistrotheque‘s restaurant in the Masonic Temple at Andaz hotel during London Restaurant Festival in October (and previously their venture, Flash, at the Royal Academy).
– Double Club – last year’s pop up restaurant/club by the Prada Foundation in Islington.

It’s been something that the art / fashion / culture worlds have been playing with for a while, but it suddenly seems to have caught the mainstream.

The second pop-up Phaidon Store was open on the Kings Road, Chelsea, on Monday 16 November 2009, to compliment their flag-ship store which recently opened at 173 Piccadilly.
This new pop-up space at 155 Kings Road, SW3, offers an extensive range of Phaidon’s titles including brand new books, best sellers, and discounted titles.

Also, Phaidon’s pop-up stores are selling some exclusive new Phaidon Collector’s Editions by leading artists such as Tacita Dean, Jeff Wall and Stephen Shore. Each original print is signed and numbered by the artist, accompanied by a limited edition of a Phaidon book that is specially bound, individually signed and numbered, and presented in a custom-made box.

www.phaidon.com