There's a bright spot in the gray of Honolulu's retail environment. It's called the pop-up boutique, and it's growing in popularity as emerging retailers seek innovative ways to reach customers without paying exorbitant overhead.

A pop-up boutique is temporary; sometimes just a few hours, sometimes a few days or weeks. Internationally, pop-up boutiques are being used by European luxury brands to try out a new neighborhood. In London, Chanel opened up a pop-up boutique, Hermes tried one in East Hampton and YSL tested out one in New York.

Locally, pop-up boutiques are appearing in Chinatown clubs, Aloha Tower Marketplace, the Honolulu Design Center and on The Contemporary Museum grounds. Some are run by women who are weary of paying rent and utilities yet want to continue with retail, such as Anne Au and her Rock Shop. Others, such as The Coop, sponsored by the Hawai'i Fashion Incubator, or Hifi, seek to offer marketing opportunities for emerging designers. Still others, such as Restless Runway, Nova Luna and Jessica's Traveling Boutique, seek to bring affordable clothing to customers without having to pay for overhead.

Au, 33, of Pauoa, owned her own upscale boutique in Kaimuki in a difficult location. When she closed, she had inventory from hip designers such as 3.1 Phillip Lim that needed to be sold, so she held pop-up boutiques at thirtyninehotel. "Then my designer friends wanted to get on board. It was all about friends wanting to collaborate," she said, so she invited them to join her, with events at Aloha Tower, Cloth boutique and the Loft and SoHo clubs in Chinatown.

More recently Rock Shop (rockshophawaii@gmail.com; also on Facebook) has settled in every other Monday at the Honolulu Design Center (the next event is Oct. 12). It is an ever-evolving entity, encompassing fashion, music and art. "It helps a little with my bills, but I could put my energy into other things that would make more money," Au said. "I'm happy doing it to support the fashion, art and music communities..

Melissa White, 31, of Round Top, and Toby Portner, 41, of Kaimuki, co-founders of Hifi (www.hawaiifashion.org), introduced The Coop as an opportunity for their members to pool resources at events.

"It's also a fun opportunity to network and compare notes with other designers. Collaborations and friendships have definitely been born out of The Coop," White said.

Jessica O'Neill, 32, of Nu'uanu, who operates Jessica's Traveling Boutique (www.jessicastravelingboutique.com), spent 14 years in retail, beginning in Nordstrom, then working at La Perla on Rodeo Drive and managing a high-end boutique in L.A. She started her business in 2007, after brainstorming all the things she liked about retail (the social aspect, helping women tweak their style, the energy generated when women are shopping) and the things she didn't like (the downtime while waiting around for customers to come, the cost of rent in Honolulu). Her first foray was at a craft fair, with an investment of $1,000.

She didn't expect the business to take off so quickly, but Jessica's Traveling Boutique soon became a full-time job, paying enough to live on and hire part-time employees. She now also runs her business on the East Coast, where she lives part-time with her fiance.

VARIED MARKET

Due to its transient nature, a pop-up boutique can be unpredictable. Sales vary widely among different designers, events and venues, White said. However, the shared costs mean no single designer is spending an exorbitant amount out of pocket.

Several of the organizers said more affordable items — $50 seems to be the magic number — sell best. Customers are often impulse-shopping and looking for a deal, so higher-priced items can be a tough sell.

Less-than-stellar displays, iffy lighting and lack of appropriate changing rooms can also affect sales.

Wendy Alverio, 27, of Mililani, who owns Restless Runway (www.restlessrunwayfashions.com), insists on low prices, with accessories running $3 to $25 and clothing priced at $10 to $45. Higher-end brands such as Ed Hardy and Juicy Couture, even at discounted prices, did not sell, she said.

O'Neill holds an average of two parties a week in homes and has also experimented with setting up boutiques in The Wedding Cafe, Hapa Grill, Rock Shop and Night Market. She also tried a collaboration with Simply Grape and Wine the Experience, offering a wine tasting followed by shopping. These, she said, were highly successful because they targeted the same customer with a product that was complementary.

Like Alverio, O'Neill has found $50 to be the magic number. She tries to keep her dresses in the $38 to $44 range. "If I go to $55 or $60, it's much harder to sell," she said. "People want to buy more than one or two things and ... the lower price point allows them to freshen their closets and not feel guilty about it."

Alverio, a special-education teacher, started her business with the goal of bringing reasonably priced clothing to "the average budget-minded customer of all shapes and sizes."

"The recession is a factor," she said. "With the decline in the economy, people wouldn't be able to shop as much in a retail store with overhead or employees or rent." She keeps prices down by avoiding those burdens.

'MARKETING IS KEY'

"Marketing is key," said White. "Let people know where you're going to be and when; capitalize on the ephemeral nature of the boutique to generate buzz. The ever-changing designer lineup in The Coop is a plus and keeps the selection of merchandise fresh. Also, we've found that bringing models to events to do informal modeling and direct people to the booth increases traffic."

The Coop's Portner added, "Events that aren't marketed strongly as shopping or fashion events tend not to be worth participation from a financial standpoint. The work involved in setting up a temporary store is considerable. We are learning that in order to make it worthwhile for members, we need a space to land for longer than a night — perhaps a week or two, or a month. Heavy marketing ahead of time with an emphasis on the 'get it while it's hot' element, big buzz upon opening, open like a real store for a time period, and then shutting down. The one-day arrangements are less than ideal."

Most pop-ups operate on the one-day idea, however. They often use the events to develop a solid customer base, then follow up with Web sites.

O'Neill has built up the Jessica's Traveling Boutique business on her Web site and at shopping parties; customers can sign up online to receive event bulletins. She travels constantly, to markets in L.A. and New York, bringing in small collections of new clothing weekly and large collections monthly so there's always something fresh and new online and at her events.

Lee-Ann Kong, 32, of Kaimuki, designer of Kisa Kosmos, and Ashley Noelle Samera, 23, also of Kaimuki, creator of Ashley Noelle, recently joined forces as Nova Luna Designs, a pop-up combining wellness-oriented services with edgy fashions. They are all about experiential events that involve more than shopping.

Part of their marketing appeal involves food, Kong said: "People like food. They'll go anywhere where there's food." Her most successful event so far was held at Tea at 1024, where tea and food was served, and patrons were encouraged to dress for the event. "It's so civilized. You can dress up and have tea and have a good time. People like to play dress-up, and we don't get to do it very often as an adult," Kong explained.

A second annual BouTeaQue is planned for 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at Tea at 1024; Halloween costumes are encouraged. (Updates are posted on Nova Luna Designs' MySpace page.)

Kong said Rock Shop helped her create a strong customer base because the people attending Rock Shop events are looking for the unusual. "We want things that are really different and interesting. (Rock Shop) is a great time to find these great things all in one place."

The synergistic marketing of Rock Shop is also a benefit. Kong has been surprised at the cost of advertising and marketing. Even the $40 price of flyers can be daunting in a tough month.

SEEING SUCCESS

The most successful pop-up boutiques appear to be those with lower price points that target a specific audience. For example, White said, "Kealopiko and Organik, both eco-conscious brands with moderate price points, did well at the Hawai'i Conservation Conference."

At First Friday, on the other hand, people are more focused on art or clubbing than shopping.

There are practical considerations when choosing a venue, too, Au said. When Rock Shop set up at thirtyninehotel, for example, the stairs were a problem for retailers and designers who had to carry clothing up and down. Honolulu Design Center and SoHo, on the other hand, have easy access.

O'Neill said the key to success in setting up a boutique in a home is flexibility. She brings 10 racks of clothes, as well as shoes and accessories, often into a small apartment. Setting up a traffic flow and being attentive to details such as music, fans, air conditioning and changing spaces all add up to better sales.

For Alverio, events like the recent Women's Expo are most successful. "It gives me an opportunity for a bigger reach and more clientele," she said. It also provides a great deal of advertising support.

In spite of a growing customer base, however, she doesn't plan to quit her day job anytime soon. "I find it to be more satisfying personally than financially. Financially it's good, but it could be better with a better economy. Personally, the growing network with designers and customers is more satisfying to me."

WHAT'S NEW

Pop-ups are attracting more participants. One of the newest is Roaming Runway (roamingrunway@gmail.com), which started up this summer with fashion socials, by appointment. Owned by Collette Kama and Nicole Hirota, both 27 and living in Waialua, the pop-up specializes in local designers such as Martinique, HuluWuwu and MachineMachine.

Kailua designer Jodi Salmonson, 39, of Kailua, who created Martinique, participates in The Coop and Roaming Runway. They offer direct access to her customers so she can talk to them about styles and sizing, receiving valuable feedback. "Customers really enjoy meeting the designers (at Coop), and it's a learning experience for the designers," she said.

Salmonson also appreciates the social aspects of a pop-up like Roaming Runway. "It's fun to shop with friends and get some help with what looks best — a critical eye and sometimes an encouraging nudge," she said.

On the other side of the coin, Fashionista's Market (www.fashionistasmarket.com) is one of Honolulu's earliest pop-up boutiques, in operation since 2005. The boutique, founded by Alyssa Fung, 27, of Punchbowl, features designer lines (Betsey Johnson and True Religion, to name just two) at deeply discounted prices, targeting a young, hip, fashion-oriented clientele. It started at the Ocean Club, then moved to venues such as the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and Neal Blaisdell Center. Hundreds of women flocked to each of the events. Fung recently held her first Neighbor Island Fashionista's Market on Maui, drawing 900 shop-hungry women.

Bucking the pop-up trend, Fashionista's Market has opened a bricks-and-mortar store at 1185 Bethel St.; its official opening day was Friday. "Our customers don't want to wait until our next event; they want to shop whenever they feel like it," Fung said. "We will still do two events a year, but now girls can come in anytime to shop. They can also book private parties in our store for a group of friends."

Fashionista's Market hasn't forgotten its roots, either; on Oct. 24, it sponsors a third annual Closet Swap, a venue to swap hip clothing items in good condition, at Luana Hills Country Club. Tickets are $25; 200 tickets are available.

The collaborative nature of the pop-up business model makes success possible.

"I've seen a lot of growth for designers come out of this," Au said of pop-up boutiques. "It's really cool seeing designers, artists, musicians and models move forward toward their dreams."