Bonnie Sayre’s Magnolia Cottage business has been open for three years, offering a mix of antiques and farmhouse merchandise. Her prize items are vintage chandeliers upcycled as outdoor solar lighting. Yet, you won’t find her store in any mall or shopping center. Instead, you’ll find her selling from a 1965 Shasta Airflyte she personally restored, part of a growing movement of mobile retailers taking the market by storm.
You’ll see these showrooms on wheels set up in vintage trailers, old buses, and even the occasional VW camper. Their appeal is undeniable, drawing crowds at antique and craft fairs, on downtown street corners, and even on college campuses.
It all started with the food truck craze. In the last decade, that industry has skyrocketed; in a creative marketing twist, food truck proprietors began taking up residence in rigs like old Airstreams and Shastas, making them even more popular. It didn’t take long before the phenomenon of retailer-on-wheels spread to non-food businesses.
While mobile retail may have been relatively uncharted territory a decade ago, today, it’s clearly on the rise as more and more would-be retailers are nixing traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts in favor of other options. According to the American Mobile Retail Association (AMRA), there are about 1,000 of these trucks across the country in everything from classic panel trucks to modern recreational vehicles.
Even established brands are getting in the game. In 2015 Amazon launched a fleet of 33 Treasure Trucks based in the U.S. and U.K. High-end clothing company Aether outfitted a modern Airstream into a store that sets up at locations chosen by its customers. Not to be outdone by product-based businesses, Ohio co-working entity COhatch added a re-purposed Airstream to its lineup of alternative office space for service-based companies.
Bonnie Sayre’s Magnolia Cottage store in her customized 1965 Shasta Airflyte. [Photo by William Flood]
Mobile shops provide an entry into the marketplace for a fraction of the cost of a traditional storefront. According to the AMRA, mobile retailers spend just under $16,000 on purchasing and renovating a vehicle. A fledgling retailer would be hard pressed to open a typical bricks-and-mortar store for less than six-figures. And, because of the smaller scale, mobile retailers have a better survival rate than traditional retailing. The AMRA also notes that over a third of mobile retailers hit break-even in under two years, a figure unheard of in traditional retailing.
Along with financial sensibilities, mobile shops serve as a creative outlet for their owners. They start with these unique canvasses which can be molded into a truly unique experience. Take Katie Crago; her pop-up collectibles shop is housed in a 20-foot 1972 Holiday Vacationer travel trailer she calls the Polka Dot Suitcase. She did most of the year-long restoration herself and integrated several pieces of architectural salvage into it, including beams from a Victorian-era building and shutters from a 200-year old farmhouse.
Customers certainly heed the siren call of these unusual venues. The visual allure and opportunity to climb aboard a vintage camper or RV turned boutique is hard to resist. And, the merchandise is often part of the attraction. The compact spaces are perfect for selling vintage records, small collectibles, or even specialty foods. A camper’s bedroom turned dressing area becomes the hub of a perfect vintage clothing boutique. That’s just the kind of merchandise that appeals to millennial buyers who are drawn to the pop-ups in the first place.
Plus, mobility is actually a savvy retail strategy. The ability to travel to events, parks, and even downtowns gives mobile retailers access to a larger and wider customer base than being landlocked. Consider that a single good-sized festival may get 50,000 attendees; bricks and mortar stores may not see that kind of traffic in an entire year. Many mobile pop up shops develop almost a cult following and will use social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to let their customers know where they are located for the day.
Jeremy Fair and Kelsy Stidley of Virginia auction company Fair Auction use that mobility to their advantage. They've run their online auction house for three years, employing a 1967 Airstream to promote their company and display auction pieces at antique shows and other events. Depending on when the trailer is berthed, visitors can bid right there, in real time, on items for sale.
For nomadic types, a mobile store appeals to the dream of “the good life”, living and working on the road. Many owners actually travel the country in their retro-fitted vehicles with their store doing double duty as their home on the road. These vagabonds can move with the weather, go where opportunities present themselves, or simply wander where their spirits lead. That’s a lifestyle simply not possible for traditional store owners. While it may not be quite as romantic as it sounds, there’s a certain appeal for many of us.
With all this in their favor, you’re sure to see a mobile pop-up store (or two) in your hometown if you don’t already have them. It’s probably not long before you’ll see mobile pop-up shop festivals the way you can enjoy food truck happenings today.
Business, Features, Open Road, Products, Rv Business Style, RV Lifestyle, Vanlife