The fundamental concept of Pop-Up storefronts has been around for many decades. Holiday pumpkins and trees for trimming are sold via temporary roadside stands each year like clockwork. Concert memorabilia, event concessions, and charity galas take place via temporary tables, tents, or trailers. Vendors pop-up shop and close down according to event demand, writes Baron Hanson*.

The modern trend of Pop-Up Shops has been proliferating like wildfire in London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris and elsewhere over the last 24 to 36 months, creating new common ground for the commercial real estate (CRE) industry and retail tenant sector.

As news spreads and Pop-Up Shop crowds gather worldwide, the altered business model of temporary leasing, or 'staging', is rapidly expanding into smaller cities and CRE markets. The creativity, temporary architecture, and communication design of modern retailers today is a marvel to experience.

One CRE challenge is figuring out brokerage commissions, financial justifications, and transaction efficiency. These norms are obviously based on small percentages of long-term lease values, specifically the internal rates of return (IRR) that are used to determine property value, satisfy CRE investors, and afford astute council.

From Australia to Austin, from Pretoria to Paris, temporary retail is best justified as a marketing experiment and re-branding tactic for each address under CRE management. For Pop-Up Shop owners-as-tenants, temporary leases are windows of opportunity to test retail strategies, collect local-area consumer data, and re-engineer new business models. What is required is a willingness of CRE executives to listen, open their CFO minds, and give qualified tenants a chance at bat.

Based on current conditions in commercial real estate –– especially retail storefronts in all categories –– it makes dollars and sense for CRE brokers and landlords to consider any appropriate locations in their portfolio as lease-eligible.

For those annoyed that the Internet has eroded real space retail, Pop-Up Shop leases are a method of countering that erosion. Big-box retailers are especially reaching out into underserved markets via short-term Pop-Up Shop experiments. These test runs are usually held during holiday seasons and once spring and summer lines are released.

Pop-Up Shop tenants include couture fashion designers, international product brands Adidas, seasonal expansions (Toys R' Us), and a variety of merchants large and small selling last year's items at deep discounts. Small, custom batches of exclusive or vintage products are especially in high Pop-Up Shop demand. Economy and sports car brands are also engaging the strategy of highly creative, temporary Pop-Up showrooms like Ford.

Cafes, cinemas, and even upscale spirit brands (Belvedere) have also popped-up. One property owner in New York recently rented a multi-floor, financial brokerage-style office space to a reality TV show for one month at a premium lease rate. Now that's exciting, high-volume, primetime CRE media exposure.

Here are five reasons to call a meeting and begin pinpointing which retail spaces under CRE management might be ideal for temporary Pop-Up Shop leases in your area:

1. VIBRANT CRE STAGING: Who yearns to visit dusty, empty, boarded-up storefronts for rent? Answer: No one. However, a well-lit, well designed, open Pop-Up store creates wild excitement in real time –– then virally throughout cyberspace. Vibrant, active, trendy Pop-Up Shop tenancy creates new and measurable traffic patterns that revitalise value propositions inside and outside each façade. Akin to popular restaurant, ballet, or museum openings, Pop-Up shops are visited by hip, popular, and well-heeled patrons in town. Why? Because temporary retail events are fun, different, and fleeting. There is often a frenzy to buy the merchandise inside before it's too late –– not a bad way to stage empty retail space.

2. EXCITING NEW MEDIA: What's more, the colorful products, people, displays, and modern designs trending inside Pop-Up Shops make way for stellar storefront and society page photography. These rare images parley into helpful PR and online content, at no cost to CRE brokers except for their time. The outdated model of merchandising CRE square footage via faxed floor plans and dusty walk-throughs is dying. Pop-Up Shops breathe new life into any space. Smart CRE executives are therefore strategically re-branding storefronts via allowing trendy Pop-Up Shop leases to market the space for them, the same way custom homes, boutique hotels, and art galleries use photography and online media buzz to merchandise themselves.

3. NEW RELATIONSHIPS: Empty retail space accomplishes absolutely nothing. A vibrant Pop-Up shop helps sell the space to long-term tenants as a place they can do actual business. Pop-Up Shop tenancy also allows the space to be occupied by a real retail business owner, their council, and their supply chain –– especially big-box retailers considering your area for expansion in the future. Pop-Up Shop owners and their crews are real people that brokers can actually shake hands with and get to know. Empty CRE space creates zero new relationships. Depending upon the variable buzz, opening night celebration, local media publicity, and ongoing attendance levels, short-term Pop-Up Shops leases allow brokers and landlords to perhaps be standing there when long-term interested tenants stop in to scout the area to potentially play ball.

4) TEST-DRIVING: In today's economy, skittish tenants want to know exactly how day-to-day norms inside the space will play out. Issues such as customer parking, ventilation, inclement weather aspects, wiring and fixtures, and neighborhood norms can be sampled briefly. Akin to spending a few nights inside a new home before pulling the trigger on a long term commitment, Pop-Up Shop leases allow tenants and CRE executives to mutually test the waters, make adjustments, and become more comfortable. Obviously some landlords may not like test-driving the leasing process. Based on current CRE market conditions, test-driving retail space may be the only chance landlords and brokers have to breathe new life into dark storefronts –– and help real-space retailers compete with cyberspace.

5) EARN RENT: Whereas each lease term and fee agreement are up for negotiation, CRE rent is, in fact, collected. Obviously any long-term lease agreement cuts short any Pop-Up Shop lease. What's more, no up-fitting takes place. Akin to trade show booths, the tenant handles light set-up and all cleaning before and after the Pop-Up. Modest rental funds collected can help offset marketing costs, fund future up-fits, or be used to commission brokers during dry spells.

None of the above can transpire whilst sitting behind a CRE desk, staring at a spreadsheet, or waiting for the rental market to turn. Leased space to short-term Pop-Up Shops brings new people together for a few weeks or months in a creative, wildly-publicised environment. At the core of any economic turnaround is new marketplace evidence, fresh data and analytics, and modern proof of value.

How many business people enjoy hearing the word "no" from the bank? Answer: zip. CRE firms and REITs are akin to banks, holding empty retail space as capital-in-waiting. Empty storefronts can be rented for some cash to test, launch, relieve, and revive local economies. Temporary retail leasing of appropriate spaces in your CRE portfolio to Pop-Up Shop tenants is a modern strategy to strongly consider.

*Baron Hanson is the principal and lead consultant for RedBaron Consulting and Goal Line PR, a branding, strategy, and turnaround management firm based in Charleston, South Carolina. Hanson completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Harvard University, which included real estate finance and urban planning coursework. Goal Line PR recently launched OpenPop-UpShops.com, a global SSL website project linking CRE executives with Pop-Up Shop tenants and big-box retailers worldwide. He can be reached via Baron@OpenPop-UpShops.com, and @openpopupshops via Twitter.