Teen Vogue is opening a Teen Vogue Haute Spot store at the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey from Nov. 28 through Dec. 26. The pop-up store will not sell merchandise but serve as a hip place for its advertisers to market their products.
The stores, according to The New York Times, will offer free snacks, informal modeling, a perfume bar, a makeup station, charging stations for cell phones and iPods, a gift-wrapping counter and racks of clothes. Stylists and attendants will advise visitors on lipstick, shoes and outfits. Specifically for nearby retailers, associates will physically guide visitors to stores in the mall where they can buy the products.
"We're not actually selling products, because our goal is to encourage people to shop in the mall," Laura McEwen, the publisher of Teen Vogue, said. "We feel we've created a retail environment that doubled as a place where they could come together, be girls, and shop together."
Teen Vogue did not charge most advertisers to participate in the store. It was offered as a perk to some top advertisers, while some were asked to buy an extra page or two in the December/January issue of Teen Vogue. The magazine brought in six new advertisers as a result of the store. In all, more than 20 Teen Vogue advertisers are participating, including Clinique, Armani Exchange and Aldo.
"The thing that was attractive to us is it's not a high-pressure environment," said Denny Downs, Clinique's executive director for marketing in North America. "We wanted them to have the ability to play, and learn about our product. We're looking at it more as a marketing opportunity than a sales opportunity, but because of the location, it could easily make the leap." Store clerks and employees, he told the Times, "can walk them down the mall to Bloomingdale's or Nordstrom, and take it from there."
Teen Vogue, part of Condé Nast Publications, will also open two stores in March and April to promote prom wear at a location to be determined. In August, two back-to-school themed locations are expected to open.
The magazine is also promoting itself with the store. Editors are expected to visit and offer fashion and makeup advice.
"They're at that age where they're very impressionable and aspirational," Ms. McEwen said of the magazine's readers. "They want contact."
The article noted that several media properties, including Sports Illustrated, CNN, USA Today and CNBC, are opening stores in airports, but are selling merchandise rather than promoting other retailers.
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the Teen Vogue Haute Spot store and the potential for marketing pop-up stores at the mall? What does this say about how the relationship between magazines and their advertisers are changing?