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Home My WebLink About2015 12-20 Mall pop-up stores here today, gone after holidays PIONEER PRESS 12/21/2015 Mall pop-up stores here today,gone after holidays-TwinCities.com Mall pop-up stores here today,gone after holidays Updated:12/20/2015 10:48:35 PM CST Twin Citie s.co m Mall pop-up stores here today, gone after holidays Nothing says Christmas like an X-rated holiday sweater, and thaYs exactly what Jordan Jacobs of Medina is shopping for. "Hmm,the cussing might be going a little too far,"said Jacobs, looking at a sweater that bore a traditional holiday greeting but with an expletive that crossed the line. Instead, he told the clerk at the Mall of America kiosk, he'd take a $45 sweater with a considerably milder phrase-a double entendre still guaranteed to induce giggles and blushes. "I have seen ugly sweaters,"said Jacobs,who was shopping Monday. "But these are funny ugly sweaters." They are an example of whaYs being sold at hundreds of pop-up stores appearing this holiday season across the state. Every year, the pop- ups swoop into vacant spots in malls, frantically sell seasonal gifts,then disappear in January. Mall of America has 22; Maplewood Mall has 12.Two more are in Woodbury Lakes mall in Woodbury. They are a strange kind of retail store. They operate only during the holidays and must store their merchandise for about nine months a year. "You have to make enough in three months to pay for it,"said Shahida Jadran,who co-owns 14 pop-ups and stores in the metro Twin Cities. The pop-ups sell anything that can't be sold year-round.They aren't looking for long-term relationships with customers, but rather impulse purchases. They take advantage of the busiest shopping season,which accounts for one-third of all purchases nationwide. They avoid the warm seasons that are relatively dead -especially in Minnesota. "The summer months are always slow,with people out golfing and all that nature stuff,"said Kristin Furlong, manager of a Go! Calendars Games&Toys store in the Maplewood Mall. In Minnesota,only the Mall of America breaks that rule-with annual peak sales in the tourist season of July and August. Most pop-ups specialize in Christmas gifts. Calendars,for example,don't sell well in February. � r �,,- � r-�...� �.__..•r,� r�°� , �r„ ^"� � � But for Christmas presents, said Furlong,they are perfect-affordable at$10 to$20 and on any ��k w �.� `� �.,r �� topic from humor to N shows to nature. � ' _ � �� /�� ,.� � , - � ��' Her store evolved from a kiosk to a storefront. She now owns eight pop-ups, all of them Go! ° � ' '� !� Calendars Games&Toys stores. �f��a_�� .�.."� "' � '� � "We have a lot of old-fashioned toys, like Mr. Potato Head,Slinky and drinking birds," Furlong �'�- �^ ^^� said. _ �7��. �% �./ In the Shop Local Market at Mall of America, a collection of kiosks sells locally made clothes, � �`� ��i, , accessories, beauty products and toys. @ ��,.t� ''�`��9�' � � � `�� 'a � Jadran co-owns several of them and is also a franchisee with Go! Calendars Games&Toys. �. �� , - �'_,..,. - - ,�:��;.��; - - � IYs difficult to choose what to sell. � � �.�� . ' �,�q � "I pay attention to what 16-year-old girls like,"said Jadran. "You need to have something silly." -. � � � � `,' �- In July, she got the idea for emoji pillows, modeled after the icons on smartphones. This week, in ..� -" � _ ' -q � one Mall of America kiosk,the pillows were selling faster than a text message. ,�,; � � � ' ��'�� Serena Hagle of Fargo, N.D., did a double-take when she spotted an emoji pillow with red hearts A young boy�looks ova the selection at the Emo�r pillow kiosk fOf ByBS. at the Mal/of Amencan on Monday,December 14,2015. (PioneerPress:JohnAUtey) "My son is 5,and he is all over that," Hagle said as she bought it. Co-owner Ahmed Khatri watched and shook his head in disbelief. "We are just amazed every year at what sells," he said. "IYs hit or miss." So far,the biggest success at the booth is the poop emoji pillow. Khatri was sold out of them Monday, but was waiting for a new shipment of the pillows-in pink. "My parents ask what I am selling," Khatri said. "I just say, um, pillows." Pop-up stores are sometimes branches of other successful businesses. The Holiday Bliss store in Woodbury Lakes,for example, had its beginnings in co-0wner Ryan Smith's garage. http://www.twi nciti es.com/busi ness/ci_29288370/m al I-po�up-stores-her�today-gone-after ��2 12/21/2015 Mall poFrup stores here today,gone after holidays-TwinCities.com About five years ago, Smith began decorating homes as a favor to family and friends. When they began to ask to buy his decorating items, he saw a business opportunity. "I thought it was time to go with bricks and mortar," Smith said. He opened the store this fall as an adjunct to his decorating business and sells high�nd Christmas omaments and decor items. "I think when the economy was struggling,this kind of store went away. Now people are happy to see it emerge,"Smith said. "They say, 'This is how it used to be. ��`-��1eY � .„ � Q�y��-�� :�,,� Another o u is ushin the evolution of the u I Christmas sweater. �,.,+ �f,e P P- P p 9 9 Y p��'�' Ugly sweater contests once showcased sweaters bou ht b .��-. g y people who didn't think they were 'w".�F�� ug ly. To day's ug ly sweaters are parodies, gooped up with decoration and off-colorjokes,drug "?��`` references and cultural icons such as"Star Wars"creatures. � .�� ,:";;: E' �� Mall of America's ugly sweater kiosk includes a "LeYs Get Baked"sweater with a stoned-looking '��s¢.� '` �'` -�" gingerbread man and a marijuana leaf. �� On Monday, Cormac Piper of Lakeville bought a "LeYs get elfed up"sweater for$45. ��yf# r� � ,: ��% R �� , - a He had seen ugly Christmas sweaters before, but not like these. s � .. �+� p' �} '. ` 2: M i "These," he said, "are hilarious." ) s Bob Shaw can be reached at 651-228-5433. Follow him at twitter.com/BshawPP. ��: J � ;� Jordan Jacobs irom Medina tnes on a sweaterat the Ugly Christmas Sweaterkiosk at the Mall ofAmencan on Monday, December 14,2015.(PioneerP2ss:John http://www.twincities.com/business/ci 29288370/mall-po�ru�rstores-here-today-gone-after y2