Appearhere

Appear Here operates an online marketplace through which brands, retailers, designers, entrepreneurs and creatives find and book brick-and-mortar space on short-term terms. Users search listings by city, date and duration, and the platform handles the booking end to end with standardised legal documents and online payments, supported by a concierge team and a direct chat channel between tenant and landlord. Listings span street-level shops, shopping-centre units, market stalls, galleries, rooftops and transport-station retail, priced on a per-day basis.

The supply side consists of landlords and retailers who list vacant or underused space. Eight of the UK's ten largest retail landlords had signed exclusive marketing deals with Appear Here by late 2014, among them British Land, Capital and Regional and Legal and General, with Hammerson, Land Securities and Transport for London also cited as exclusive partners; retailers such as TOPSHOP have listed space inside their flagship stores. The company states that 90% of the spaces on the platform are exclusive to it. Demand-side customers have ranged from independent makers and food start-ups to international brands including Marc Jacobs, Google, Diageo, Jamie Oliver, Moleskine, Net-a-Porter, Supreme, Loewe, Coca-Cola, the BBC and the Science Museum, as well as artist-led projects such as the Kanye West "Life of Pablo" pop-ups.

The business runs from offices in London (11-12 Great Sutton Street, EC1V 0BX), Paris, New York and Amsterdam, and lists destinations including Birmingham, Brighton, London, Manchester, New York, Paris and Los Angeles. Alongside the marketplace it publishes editorial content, how-to guides, reports and success stories, and provides landlord dashboards for space owners.

Founding story

In summer 2012, Ross Bailey and a friend launched Rock & Rule, a short-lived pop-up shop selling limited-edition t-shirts and apparel inspired by the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, opening in an empty shop two weeks after the initial idea (the company site cites Marshall Street; a Balderton release cites Carnaby Street). Many visitors came to ask about the shop space itself rather than the products, which suggested unmet demand for short-term lets. When the pop-up closed a few days later, Bailey put his share of the profit into launching Appear Here.

Business model

Appear Here is a two-sided marketplace: landlords, retailers and property owners list short-term retail and venue space, and brands, entrepreneurs and creatives book it online for periods described as short as under one month. The platform manages the transaction, including standardised legal agreements and online payments, and provides a concierge service and landlord dashboards. Sources describe the company as facilitating short-term lets on behalf of landlords, allowing them to make more profitable use of otherwise idle space.

Spaces are marketed at daily rates (for example from £99 to £500 per day for London listings), with bookings and payments processed through the platform.

Traction

By November 2014 the company had facilitated over 500 short-term lets in 12 months, grown listed properties 200% to more than 600 sites, and had over 10,000 brands searching its database at any one time, up from 3,000 in 2013. By May 2015 it reported 25 employees, profitability and a client list of over 10,000 brands. By May 2017 more than 4,000 exclusive spaces had been listed in the UK and France. Case studies include PRESS London, which sold out within two hours of opening its Old Street station pop-up and subsequently opened a Soho store and a Selfridges counter, and 26 Grains, which grew from an Old Street Station market stall into a Covent Garden cafe.

Latest developments

The platform continues to market bookable retail spaces in London and other cities, including units at The Sidings in Waterloo, Bateman Street in Soho and Kingsland Road in Dalston, with daily rates and instant-book listings, and promotes seasonal collections such as London Fashion Week and the London Marathon.