le original

With all this talk of pop-up retail shops (and not just method, it's catching on!) let's take a step back in time and check out the original! The very first method pop-up shop, in San Fran, 2004:

"A store dedicated to cleaning products? Couldn’t imagine it? Ammo could. And we did.

In the spring of 2004, Method Home products, a San Francisco-based natural cleaning products company, approached Ammo Marketing to develop a creative marketing strategy that would build overall brand awareness and put its product in the hands and minds of peer influencers within its consumer target: moms and savvy singles. The Method Pop-Up Shop was the ultimate result.

For the price of a traditional billboard, the Pop-Up Shop reflected the brand’s whimsical personality to the target consumer, while offering a 7-day-a-week, 360-degree experience with the brand and its products — previously available most readily at the nation’s Target retail locations. In addition to operating the store in a normal retail capacity, the Pop-Up Shop hosted regular, targeted Influencer events, including catered parties for specific target groups including Dwell Magazine subscribers, Volvo drivers, local philanthropists and the corporate staff of Design Within Reach.

The Pop-Up Shop — a clean, bright, gallery-like space — opened August 11 one-block off Union Square in downtown San Francisco, and was slated to close two months later (“Like a Summer fling, we’re gone with the changing leaves”). By the end of October, however, the project was deemed a success and a decision was made to stay open through Christmas Eve.

The result of this six-month program? Sparkling! ...Method’s return on investment was palatable: the months of November and December featured enormous surges in return customers and sales; media attention was strong with local and national stories reaching more 3 million consumers; and Method’s existing customer database grew by more than 20%. The buzz was on the streets — Method shopping bags were spotted in every neighborhood, Method t-shirts graced the torsos of Influentials across the city, and the Thursday evening happy hours became a frequent weekly stop for downtown workers on their way home to the suburbs. Method Pop-Up Shops are planned for additional cities in 2005."

...And 2007, and 2008, and... Yay! (PS - See the premium candle line method used to produce, in the upper left photo? Too cool!)