For local entrepreneurs who want to test drive their business before committing time and resources to a lease Kelly Kask is offering a short-term solution with a unique “pop-up” trailer.
Pop-up retail outlets aren’t exactly a new concept; a pop-up shop is a business without a fixed address that shifts between locations. Food trucks seasonal shops and mobile retailers are just some of the businesses that make up this category.
But Kask who owns Reclaimed Trading Company in Ramsay came up with a plan to create a space for pop-up shops by turning an Airstream trailer into a one-of-a-kind temporary store. “This gives local businesses that are starting up the ability to judge if they’ll do well in a permanent location” says Chantelle Parsons a longtime employee at the architectural salvage businesses.
Reclaimed Trading Company is involved in stripping the materials from demolished buildings which are usually then used to create artwork and custom furniture. Due to the nature of his business Kask often travels to salvage materials. He already owns a handful of trailers that he uses as accommodation on his journeys and to transport supplies to and from the demolition sites. He bought the used Airstream online and was driving it back to Calgary from Hamilton when the idea struck him. “We took the Airstream to a home and garden show and everybody wanted to go in it” he says. “I thought ‘Hey this would be a great pop-up shop.’”
The customers who visit Kask’s shop are interested in acquiring unique items or are looking for raw materials to use in their own crafts which provides him with opportunities to meet people who might be interested in a venue to show their work. He began renting the Airstream as a pop-up trailer in November and says it was an instant success. “We told a few people what we wanted to do — and we thought it was a crazy idea — but we had the first three months booked in the first three days” says Kask.
The Airstream is available to rent for one month at a time. Vendors cannot book consecutive months and by changing the merchant this frequently he intends to provide opportunities to as many small businesses as possible while supplying his visitors with a fresh new shop every month. “The happy time is when the new tenant comes in and the sad time is when you have to say goodbye to them” says Kask. “As excited as you are for the new person you’re sad because the last one became part of the community.”
Multidisciplinary artist Karen Scarlett who rented the Airstream to show her wares during the month of January says she predominantly works in two-dimensional art which is usually displayed on salvaged materials. “I had a vision of seeing my work in [the trailer]” she says. “I love the aspect of community coming into the shop and adding to the magic that’s already here.”
In February Troy Roberts is using the trailer to showcase his artwork which includes signs coffee tables and birdhouses crafted from farm wood.
For now the Airstream is the only pop-up trailer available but based on its success so far Kask plans to assemble a fleet of trailers and create a “pop-up parade” in Reclaimed Trading Company’s yard. He currently owns six trailers and is in the process of accumulating several more — he hopes to have others available for rent as early as March. “There are so many talented people in Calgary why not showcase their work?”
Once his fleet is operational Kask expects that other vendors will want to bring their own trailers to his yard and expand the pop-up parade. “We like to throw a lot of spaghetti at the wall and this one stuck. If we build it then they will come” he says.
His only stipulation is that the character of both the trailer and the merchant matches the fun atmosphere he’s trying to create. “If we like the colour of it and we like you we’ll rent you a spot.”
