Win Prime London Retail Space

by Startacus Admin

Win Prime London Retail Space

Retail can be a great gig, but it’s certainly not for the faint of heart.

Even when you set aside the endless list of demands it creates on your time, the financial risk should your budding enterprise fail, is often too much for the average sole trader to take on confidently.

Nowhere in the UK is this risk more acutely felt than in London, where high bid rents make it all but impossible for fresh retailers to ‘set up shop’. However what if we told you, that this year you could have use of a prime London retail outlet rent free for 2 whole weeks, as well as a fit-out budget and free advertising to boot?

That’s exactly what ‘Appear Here’ in association with the London Evening Standard are offering to 3 of the capital’s hottest new retailers…

(That’s right, we said ‘hottest’, but don’t judge us, we are merely getting into the spirit of the thing) .

What’s up for grabs?

The competition, which is aptly named ‘Space for Ideas’ will culminate in the three enterprising winners being awarded their own central London shop during the summer for 2 weeks.

Alongside this space for their own pop up shop, the winning retailer will also receive a £3000 budget with which to kit out the store as well as up to £20,000 worth of advertising space in the London Evening Standard to help you market your shop, and expert mentoring to give them the best possible chance of a successful run.

The stores are located in three of London’s most sought after retail locations, namely within Covent Garden, Kings Road, and Shoreditch.

How to apply

You can apply to become one of their winning retailers via the Appear Here website before midnight on Monday June 29th 2015. There are a couple of caveats that you should bear in mind before applying;

• Shortlisted applicants need to be available to attend a ‘Summer Party' for the announcement of the winner on the evening of Thursday 16th July

• If you are one of the winners you will need to attend a day of expert mentoring in central London on Thursday 21st

• Winners will need to be able to stock and staff their space from the 11th to the 24th of August.

This little video will explain all.

Extra Info

Of course you are all familiar with the London Evening Standard, but unless you have your finger on the pulse of all things retail startups, you might not have come across Appear Here.

Founded by self-starter Ross Bailey in 2013 Appear Here is the AirBNB of the short-term retail rental market, allowing small retailers and pop-up shops to avail of vacant retail spaces across a number of major cities.

It is a particularly inspiring demonstration of innovation and entrepreneurship, which took a potentially negative state of affairs, and turned it into a highly successful business. Check out Ross' startup journey for a spot of encouragment.

If you are thinking of creating a popup shop, you might like to take  a look at some of these helpful 'how to' guides.

How to source products for your popup shop
How to secure a location for your popup shop
The legalities of running a popup shop
Tips of the popup shop trade

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Published on: 10th June 2015