Casper Is The Latest Digital Brand Testing Pop-Up Shops

Online mattress firm Casper appears to be the latest startup taking the brick-and-mortar plunge and launching 15 pop-up shop locations nationwide, according to reports from retail news source Chain Store Age. The first stop on the retail tour was Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Georgia, the Wednesday (Oct. 25) article said.

Featuring the full Casper experience — including bedding, pillows, duvet covers and dog beds, among other items — the main event at the pop-up stores will be the brand’s signature mattress line.

Customers will be able to see Casper items in their natural habitat through a series of bedroom snapshots featuring a selection of design aesthetics from which to chose. The showcases will also allow for testing of the company’s goods, Chain Store Age reported. Customers will even be able to book a half-hour nap on a Casper mattress to get a good feel for whether the product will help them sleep better.

Upcoming Casper pop-up locations include Short Hills Mall in Short Hills, New Jersey, and the Westchester Mall, Walt Whitman Shops and Westfield World Trade Center, all in New York state. The pop-up shops, which will serve as Casper’s first major toe-dip into physical retailing, will be open through early 2018.

“The demand to experience our products in-person has continued to grow exponentially,” said Philip Krim, the mattress firm’s co-founder and CEO. “Casper [pop-up] retail environments allow us to seamlessly traverse online and offline, which we believe is paramount to an exceptional customer journey.”

Casper has also recently partnered with retail chain Target to begin selling its products in Target stores, Chain Store Age noted. The pair up will see Casper’s memory foam and latex mattresses available in a variety of sizes through Target’s digital channels. The items from Casper’s product line will be available in some physical Target stores and on the retailer’s website, according to the news article.