Kiosks & mobile formats
The footfall is already there, that is what you come for. What remains is to get the location from the retail landlord, then to hold a set-up seen from 360° that has to pass the inspection body.
Why the shopping centre is the best first step
The best recent example does not come from a luxury brand. Decathlon turned its store in Herblay into a playground: a test track for roller skates and bikes, a football simulator, an introduction to horse riding. Buying a ball takes thirty seconds online, trying it does not.
That is the underlying shift in physical retail: venues are no longer just points of sale, they are becoming places of experience, and the product becomes almost the consequence of that experience. A good set-up in a centre does not try to interrupt the passer-by, it gives them something to do.
The formats available in a centre
- Shopping centre stand and kiosk: set in the middle of the footfall, 360° visibility, circulation and evacuation constraints.
- Podium and activation in a department store: at Sephora, Citadium or Galeries Lafayette, within the store's specifications.
- Product launch: a staged venue built around a new release, designed for the press and for the images visitors will produce themselves.
- Multi-city tour: a single set-up, dismantled and reassembled from stop to stop.
- Frontage and journey: the entrance to a venue is not there to decorate: it is there to bring in the right people with the right questions.
Be part of the experience rather than sponsor it
Coachella has become the example everyone quotes, and for a precise reason: the brands that succeed there do not hang a logo on a wall. They offer something the public wants to live, and the brand is remembered for what it made possible, not for what it displayed.
The same logic works on a small scale. In Dublin, a retailer created queues by selling lost parcels. The set-up fitted into a few square metres.
Standards and technical requirements
We make experiences possible by working from the standards and technical requirements of the venue: electrical compliance, fire resistance of materials, clearances, a visit from the inspection body (bureau de contrôle) when required. These points are dealt with at the drawing stage, and we deliver on the planned date.
What we have produced
The Kindness Café by Tarte Cosmetics with Sephora, Laneige x Sephora, a kiosk at the Apsys Steel shopping centre in Saint-Étienne, the 900.care kiosk at Forum des Halles, the frontage and advice island for the Royal Canin location. See the projects.
If the operation needs to sell more than to engage, look instead atthe pop-up store agency. If the location is a lasting one inside a host store, it is the corner and shop-in-shop.
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked most often about this service.
How do you get a location in a shopping centre?
Your contact is the specialty leasing department of the retail landlord: Altaréa, Apsys, Ceetrus, Hammerson, Klépierre, Mercialys, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. What it looks at: the strength of the brand, the fit with the centre's customers, and the ability to run the operation. We source these locations and carry the application.
What budget for a shopping centre kiosk?
Allow €8,000 to €25,000 of manufacturing for a kiosk in the mall, plus the occupancy, negotiated by the week or by the month with the landlord. Beyond that, a set-up deployed in several centres can exceed €200,000, but the furniture is reused from one stop to the next.
How do you install a stand or kiosk in a shopping centre?
The location is negotiated with the landlord's specialty leasing department: Altaréa, Apsys, Ceetrus, Hammerson, Klépierre, Mercialys, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Then come the technical constraints: the centre's specifications, the inspection body (bureau de contrôle), electrical standards, fire resistance of materials, circulation and evacuation in the mall, installation slot. We handle both sides.
Can you run a tour across several cities?
Yes. The set is then designed from the drawing stage to be dismantled, transported and reassembled: inter-city logistics, local assembly teams, spare parts planned in. The same set-up goes in at Paris, Lyon or Berlin, and the manufacturing investment is spread across every stop.
Do you need permits for an activation in a shopping centre?
Yes. On top of the occupancy contract come the centre's technical validation of the set-up, electrical and fire compliance, and sometimes a visit from an inspection body. These points are dealt with at the drawing stage.