The key to luring customers into physical stores today is to create experiences that go beyond selling products on a shelf, said Topshop chairman Hilton Seskin at the launch of Golden Gaytime’s pop-up store at Topshop Topman in Sydney this morning.

“It’s not about selling ice-cream, it’s about giving something back to the consumer. Sure they’ll pay for the ice-cream, but they’re getting an experience,” Seksin told Inside Retail.

“This is not a massive for-profit collaboration. The costs of setting it up, especially for Streets, is ridiculously high, but it’s about fun and giving the consumer a reason to come to Topshop Topman and have a new experience.”

“Retail today isn’t just about selling products because you can do that anywhere. You can’t do a Golden Gaytime collaboration online. Touch and feel is what it’s all about. We have to keep bricks-and-mortar alive and this is the way we’re going to do it.”

The pop-up store, known as the Crumb Shed, is located in both Topshop Topman stores in the Gowings store in Sydney and the Emporium store in Melbourne. Both will run for a limited time. The Crumb Shed sells five different Golden Gaytime-inspired ice-creams, including Unicorn Breath (vanilla crumb, musk sticks, strawberry hard candy, popping candy and edible glitter) and Golden Chief’s Salty Gaytime (vanilla crumb, pretzel bits and salted caramel drizzle).

Last year, Topshop launched five in-store pop-up stores with Brisbane start-up company Doughtnut Time. Seskin has not ruled out the possibility of collaborating with other brands in the future. 

“If it’s right [for us], we’ll do it. It’s not something you can go out and just look for – it has to come your way. You’ve got to be aware of what’s around you. Collaborations can fall flat if the values don’t fit and if the consumer can see the values don’t meet,” he said. “That’s probably why you don’t see that many around the world like this. It is a one-off, but who knows? We might be able to convince Streets to come up with something new for next year.”