Welcome to our new series 'A chat with...'!
In this series, we want to take the opportunity to speak with our previous pop up hosts about their business, time in our pop ups and just have a general natter! We hope you will find their honesty and top tips useful... who knows maybe it will even inspire you to open your own pop up? Keep your eyes peeled, because we will also be featuring some of the team and asking them some questions too!
This week we feature Kiht Collective who hosted their first pop up shop in our Chester pop up from the 3rd of January to the 9th! Kiht had previously been part of a collective in our Altrincham pop up shop back in October too.
What made you want to host a pop up shop?
"We are an online brand, but a collective first - so a pop-up is the perfect opportunity for us to be able to bring what we do to life and meet our collective in person! We are a slow fashion sportswear brand, so its a great opportunity for people to come and try on our Gymwear and see our amazing quality and learn more about what we do as a brand. "
What benefits were there to hosting a pop up?
"The benefits of hosting a pop-up are definitely getting to meet people face to face, it’s so much fun and you get instant feedback on your product, which you cannot get online. You also get to bring your brand to life and showcase it in a physical space, it’s a great opportunity to test too - we used the pop-up to try out new ideas - we showcased un-launched product and got feedback on it and tested out ways of showing our product. "
What was your highlight of the week?
"Saturday was definitely an amazing day! We managed to get some local press, which meant we were super busy at the weekend with people coming from all over the place to visit us - that was incredible! We also left some positive flyers around Chester and loved people finding them and tagging us into their posts. "
What message do you look to spread with your business?
"I love to spread a message of positivity, good energy and love!"
How did you feel on your first day of opening?
"Really excited! I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was really excited about meeting people and the opportunity of showcasing our full range in our first solo pop-up."
Any advice/tips for people looking to host a pop up?
"Yes, my tips would be - Think about ‘why’ people would come into your shop, what would make them want come in and what things could you do to make it a great experience for them that they would want to share? - ensure all these link back to your brand ethos and your own ‘why’. Most importantly enjoy it, have fun, try new ideas and use it to learn! "
We loved chatting to Kiht Collective and we hoped you enjoyed reading all about their business and their time in the pop up!
Kiht Collectives pop up also made local news, which was fantastic to see! Read the article here: Sustainable activewear brand opens in Chester city centre for one week only | Chester and District Standard (chesterstandard.co.uk)
You can shop online with Kiht Collective here: UK Ethical Activewear For Babes Who Care | KIHT
You can also find them on social media Ethical + Sustainable Gymwear (@kihtcollective) • Instagram photos and videos
Information on our Chester pop up can be found here: Chester Pop Up | Contemporary by Barker Proudlove (contemporarybybp.co.uk)
Stay tuned for our next chat... if you would like to be part of our series get in touch!