HEMA : 2 Pop-Up Stores launched simultaneously for a global communication!

For the Easter period, from March 8 to April 1st 2018, the Dutch brand HEMA asked Storefront to find the best possible space for 2 Easter Pop-Up Stores: one in the heart of Le Marais in Paris, 45 sq m dedicated to chocolate, and another one in the dynamic center of Amsterdam.

We have asked the HEMA Communication Team several questions to know more the their short-term retail strategy, launching 2 Pop-Up Store simultaneously in 2 different markets!

How would you describe the HEMA in few words ? 

Fun, colorful, for the everyday life, contemporary, fresh. Affordable goods to make your life easier and simpler!


What is the aim of this pop-up store in Paris and how do you think it would benefit the brand?


The aim was to reveal our 3 new chocolate eggs flavors, to put the brand under the spotlight and to communicate about our Easter campaign. It’s a real marketing tool, to make our customers even more fond of HEMA. We hope people will talk about it, we hope to create a buzz, and to show HEMA as a cool and contemporary brand. 

What is the experience you want to create with this store?

We want our customers to have a fun and positive experience. Customers can taste the eggs before buying them if they’re not sure about the flavor. They can spend some time in the ball pool, take pictures. The pop-up store has been designed to be perfectly Instagram-friendly, to be shared on social media and to benefit from word of mouth. Our Easter campaign’s message is “Come and have fun, it’s Easter!”, we want people to fall back into childhood and remember how fun it was at this age. (Now you understand the idea of the ball pool!)

You’re also popping up in Amsterdam with Storefront: same time, same theme. Can you speak to this global pop-up store strategy? 

HEMA is increasingly becoming a global brand. A pop-up store fully dedicated to Easter in 2 different markets is a strong part of our Easter campaign. In the Netherlands, HEMA is a well-known brand that people love and has been a part of daily life since 1926. In France, we’re following this path of development and brand awareness. In order to win people’s loyalty, we launched this pop-up store so that Paris will remember us!

Why did you choose to open this pop-up store in front of your flagship in Le Marais?

We wanted to be in a central, vivid neighborhood, benefiting from good foot traffic. Le Marais was ideal. The fact that the pop-up store is close to one of our stores is an advantage: it allows us to invite customers to discover a larger part of our current collections.

How is it different from providing a digital experience/buying your products online? What’s the added value? 

The pop-up store is 100% about experience. It’s really not something that can be lived through online shopping. When you exit the pop-up store, you will have a smile on your face.

What was the main criteria for the spaces you chose in Paris and Amsterdam? 

Visibility, a vivid neighborhood in order to target the maximum of people.

What would your advice be for other companies that are thinking of hosting a pop-up store?

It depends on your objective. If you want to open a pop-up store which is a “brand energizer”, you need a concept that’s visually strong. The pop-up store has to be entirely based on the experience and the team has to be very friendly. For HEMA, we just chose to focus on our eggs with their 18 new flavors as they are key to our Easter campaign.

Do you think pop-up stores will be a permanent part of your global (marketing) strategy? If so, why? 

The pop-up store is entirely integrated in our Easter campaign. It’s not recommended to open a pop-up store for a year, you’ll loose the buzz effect, the interest of people and press.

What does success mean to you?

Happy customers!
The turnover of course, even if it was not the most important aspect of this kind of project. A large number of people who bought our eggs.
Lots of press coverage! In magazines, blogs, social medias…
A Pop-Up Store to get exposure on a global market?
Find it on Storefront !
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