Pop-up shops, also called temporary stores or flash retail, have grown in popularity and awareness over the last few years. The definition is just as it sounds – a shop that appears suddenly and disappears with similar drama after a relatively short amount of time. Often there is a special collection or limited edition item element as well. Whether in a rented space, a splashy freestanding structure, only online or curated by tastemaking blogs, there are no limits to the innovative ideas flash retail can create. I particularly love that creativity is almost always a vital characteristic of pop-up shops. From big installations (check out that gorgeous net of cardboard boxes above) to bold storefronts to sleek branding, temporary stores seem to form a sublime marriage of retail and creativity. If you interested, I wrote an image-filled article for Rena Tom’s site on pop-up shops which you can read here. Back to dreaming about opening a shop that pops…

(photographs via the fancy, dezeen, hannah dollery creative, decor8, dezeen, we heart and web urbanist)