Pop-up stores are popping up everywhere. All the big brands are into them -- Pop Tarts opened up a Pop Tarts World pop-up in New York City's Times Square earlier this month. Gap hit SoHo with a pop-up store for its Piperlime brand that was slated to stay up just 25 days during Fashion Week. For its part, Pita Pit brashly camped its pop-up restaurant in front of Fox News' New York headquarters for a month, landing more press and attracting record numbers of new-franchisee applications. Pop-Up stores are so hot that some retail advisors now specialize in designing and creating them.

These big retailers are onto something smaller retailers can take advantage of, too. Here's why now is a great time to open a pop-up store: Empty space. There is an unprecedented amount of open retail space right now. Make a landlord an offer and they'll probably jump at it. read more...