Prada Takes Pop-Up Shop on Asia Tour, Starting in Macau

Prada is stepping up its marketing efforts in Asia by opening a pop-up store in Macau, which the Italian luxury fashion brand will bring to other cities in Greater China and abroad during the Chinese New Year holidays.

By setting up a temporary retail space to hawk its goods in the Galaxy Macau, Prada is joining a trend toward pop up shop strategies in China, where the flexible retail approach is said to have enjoyed 100 percent annual growth over the last two years.

The Italian luxury brand opened its first Asian pop-up store last September in Bangkok’s Emporium shopping mall, and just this month launched an official online store in China.

Prada Kicks off China Pop-Up Store Tour in Macau

Prada’s newest pop-up store, Prada Spirit, will be installed for a month in the Promenade Shops’ Pearl Lobby area of the Galaxy Macau in Cotai district, the company announced. The space, featuring an exclusive product selection of leather goods, resembles an Italian traditional café with a central, squared counter, high wooden stools, and marble checkered flooring.

The project is a continuation of Prada’s train-themed pop-up store at the same venue, which operated from December to mid-January. Prada Spirit will begin its tour to other major Asian cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Seoul, during the traditional holiday that begins on February 16, the company said.

Temporary Stores Crop Up Across China

Pop-up stores are on the rise in China, where they are typically located inside shopping malls rather than, as is often the case in Europe and the US, outside on the street. High-end luxury brands are starting to roll out their own take on the pop-up format, seeking to cut costs and generate interest in their pricey offerings. European luxury brand Christian Dior set up pop-up stores to display its new line of women’s products in front of its permanent shops in the Shanghai IFC Mall and the SKP Beijing mall last year.

According to Chinese commercial property research agency RET, pop-up stores have proliferated in China with a compound annual growth rate of over 100 percent since 2015, and are projected to total more than 3,000 stores by 2020.