Photo courtesy of retailtrust.org.uk

RRP pop-up shops

Retail Ready People pop-up shops are social spaces, giving as much of the shop over to space to hang out, have conversations, read books and listen to live music as is given to display products for sale. The shops are full of things made locally. Beautiful art, but useful things too like clothes, lampshades, soaps, bags, clocks and coathooks alongside prints by local artists. Everything has been designed or made in the city of the pop-up or, in some cases, in the shop itself.

Retail Ready People is all about trying, testing and prototyping. That practical research by young people is laying the foundations for a new high street, one that goes beyond chain store retail and provides new forms of social and community activities. One that supports small-scale local industry. One that provides jobs with more worth than a zero-hours contract at minimum wage. Article source: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/22/the-retail-ready-people-project-means-the-future-of-the-high-street-is-in-your-hands/

How it works

vInspired, the charity dedicated to helping young people do good things, has teamed up with retail charity, Retail Trust, to create Retail Ready People. RRP provides training and support as well as practical skills and experience to help young people find out more about retail careers, progress and get promoted. Working as part of a 30-strong team, young volunteers will take over an empty shop for up to 1 month and transform it into a creative retail space at the heart of the community. They'll manage all aspects of the shop, including customer experience, visual merchandising, stock control, branding, PR, marketing, finance, decorating shop-fitting and staffing.

Retail Ready People is supported by Retail Trust, vInspired and Dan Thompson, of Empty Shops Network and #Riotcleanup fame, who will work with young people to turn empty shops into amazing pop-up spaces.

Who's it for

  1. Retail staff aged 16 - 25 with drive, energy and passion to succeed in the retail sector; and
  2. Young people aged 16 – 25 who are unemployed and seeking careers in the retail sector.

Where and when does the project take place? Retail Ready People will run in 10 high street locations across England during 2012 – 2014. Brighton & Hove City and the London Borough of Enfield are confirmed as the first two locations, running from September – 12 December 2012.

How do participants apply? Visit www.vinspired.com/rrp-retail-ready-people

Links and other sources