Planning a Popup Shop

Esconcing herself at a window seat in Joseph’s artsy café…

Louisa: Hi Joseph. I need to talk. Listen. I've got this idea. You know I’m making clothes and bags, and I was thinking of hosting a pop-up shop event here for a weekend. What do you think?

Joseph: Interesting. I'm always open to supporting local artists and creative ventures. When would you want to do this?

Louisa: Early September. Maybe a Friday evening through Sunday evening?

Joseph: Sounds doable. 

You could put your racks by the window here, people outside would see the clothing.

Louisa: And a small table for the bags.

Joseph: We’re flexible, we can rearrange the tables. Now, what about promotion for the event, to get the word out?

Louisa: I was thinking of social media, maybe design some flyers to leave at the café?

Joseph: Great, what about the financials like handling sales?

Louisa: I can bring my own mobile card reader and handle all the transactions myself. I'll be responsible for all the sales and revenue during the event.

Joseph: That works for me. Now, a weekend event can be quite taxing. Can you be here for the entire time? Do you have any friends or assistants who can help you manage the pop-up?

Louisa: I’m thinking of making it a weekend-long party so people will be hanging out here and ordering food and drinks from your menu.

Joseph: Way to go! Super. And it aligns well with the artsy vibe of the café.

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Voice-over

Joseph will also charge Louisa rent for the space but Louisa hopes that filling the café with her customers will offset some of the expenses.

The fate of the Napier War Memorial Hall

Heritage meets a councillor...

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1957

Heritage: It’s a war memorial. The names of those who died were on the wall. Your council passed the motion to take down the wall and the 600 names and turn the hall into a conference centre. Why?

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2017

Councillor: Makes sense. You have a building. Prime location. A conference centre generates income.

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Heritage: But you already have a city that thrives on tourism. It makes money.

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Councillor: Go for growth.

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Heritage: Even if it means erasing the names of the dead and appropriating the monument paid for by citizens so a few conference organizers can get richer more cheaply?
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Voice-over
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A “what on earth have you done?” situation. Taking down names of the war dead, desecrating an architectural icon. Ignorance and commerce rides roughshod over the subtleties of history and aesthetics.

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We are reminded of the Biblical story of repurposing a temple into a hawker hall…
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And Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover and found the temple courtyard filled with livestock, merchants and the tables of the moneychangers. And he said, “My house shall be a house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

...

Wearing a book

Evolution of Media

Wearing a book

Woodi: What drove our quest to develop media?
Marshall: Kings commissioned effigies, churches told stories, and now it’s business diverting us with entertainment and games. Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century.
Woodi: Where will it end?

Marshall: In the future. Art is anything you can get away with now. Maybe we will be wearing books soon. Think about it.

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Voice-over

Can’t but help notice we went from pictures through text and now we’re headed back to pictures. Or as McLuhan said it, “Only a fraction of the history of literacy has been typographic.” Perhaps my next book purchase will be a T-shirt.

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Sales talk

It is a political rally but commerce continues.

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T-shirt seller: 100% cotton.

Farang: Don’t you have one with black letters?

T-shirt seller: “Truth Today!” Gold letters are better.

Farang: Hmm.

T-shirt seller: When we overthrow the government, these T-shirts will be valuable.

Farang: But if I wear it today, near the office, it could be dangerous.

T-shirt seller: Think of it this way. As a good investment.

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Voice-over

The language of sales. Step one: Remark on the quality. Step two: Insist on product superiority. Step three: Emphasize the value.

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