MONCTON – The Lush Handmade Cosmetics pop-up shop opened at the Gerald LeBlanc Park next to the city hall on Thursday, and it smells good.
The shop’s shelves are lined with the company’s limited edition and best-selling products, including bath bombs, as well as lotions, body butter bars, soaps, body spray, and face and lip masks, among others.
The tent structure for the shop that’s only open until December 22 was built in about a week, says Lush visual merchandiser Sam Salwierak, who was in Moncton for the opening.
Staff from the company’s stores in Vancouver, Halifax and other cities were also called in to help, while some staff were hired locally for the month.
“We came in and finished [the shop] up in two days,” she said. “It’s a very quick turnaround. Lots of the Lush staff were helping us out and making sure everything looks stunning for all the customers coming.”
This is the company’s first pop-up store in Canada. It’s using the concept to test the Moncton market with an eye of opening a store in the coming years.
“We are really hoping to excite the people of Moncton and in the area. We’ve heard loud and clear that we are wanted here by folks,” said Salwierak. “We’re always looking to expand our market, so these pop-ups are a great way for us to test that out and see if [Moncton is somewhere] that we can put a permanent location in.”
Lush spokesperson Jennifer Graybeal confirmed in November that the company is considering opening a Moncton location in 2020-2021.
At its pop-up store, the brand is promoting an “ethical Christmas,” including through its so-called naked products, which require no packaging.
In line with the brand’s ethics, Lush is also contributing 100 per cent of the proceeds from a line of body lotions dubbed “charity pot” to grassroots organizations around the world with which it has partnered. One of those organizations is the Meduxnekeag River Association Inc. in western New Brunswick.
City of Moncton economic development officer Kevin Silliker previously said the pop-up’s location is a one-time deal because it will become the Gerald LeBlanc park in early 2020.
But city manager Marc Landry noted that it serves as an opportunity for the city to see how pop-up shops could contribute to its downtown plan.
Check out what the pop-up shop looks like below:
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