Pop-up shop comes to Hamilton

A new concept in retail is coming to Hamilton's Ward St as a couple of entrepreneurial Hamilton men make the most of cheap short-term leases on empty shops.

Lurk, a pop-up shop, opens this Friday, the brain child of Lester Perry and Rowan Hummfreys. It is designed to open for only 10 weeks to make the most of cheaper short-term leases on sites that have not been let.

The pair say the concept is widely used overseas but it is not something which has been picked up in New Zealand.

Their shop will close on January 23. "It's going to be 70 days of madness," says Perry.

The pair are both graphic artists and will offer their services from the shop where they will also be selling from Perry's clothing label Quiet Chaos.

They hope the shop will serve as a place for people to hang out, offering DJ's, magazines and books to read and local art work to look at.

They will also feature work by snowboard photographer Tim Pierce.

"Through the Christmas period it's a good spot. A lot of retail stores all they can do is retail. It's a difficult market in the recession. We wanted to have somewhere in town that wasn't just a store."

The pair say they are trying to shift the focus from just buying things to people enjoying themselves.

Perry says he hopes the shop will also double as a recycling base where people can bring their old clothes and recycle them, the old clothing given to charity.

He says for every pair of jeans brought in customers will get $30 off their new pair.

"People will get some discounts off clothing and they get to know their clothes are going for someone else's benefit too."

Hummfreys believes many retailers may be struggling because of the money spent on rents and fitting out shops.

"There's too much spent on the fit-outs and not enough spent on the product and character of the place."

The whole venture has cost them about $12 to set up, and the rental on the store is about one quarter of what it would normally be let for.

They say they are not sure where Lurk will go after January 23.

"It might open again straight away or it might be a month down the line."

The business has Facebook and twitter pages. Its opening is an invite-only event this Friday night.

People can go to lurk.co.nz and add it as a friend on Facebook.

- © Fairfax NZ News