#Johannesburg

If you’re under 45 and/or aren’t familiar with Paul Simon’s early solo recordings, you won’t get this headline. Sorry for that. It popped into my head when I started writing and then I had to use it.

Pop-ups have taken over Johannesburg. Pop-up clothing shops, pop-up restaurants, pop-up coffeehouses, pop-up night-clubs…you name it. It’s all popping up.

I don’t know if the pop-up concept exists in other places or just here. But in case you don’t know what a pop-up is, basically it’s a business that opens on a temporary basis with the understanding that it could close or move at any time. In some ways, the non-committal nature of this concept is kind of irksome. But in other ways I think it’s cool. It creates urgency and excitement to go and check out the pop-up before it disappears. And pop-ups are particularly well-suited to Joburg, which is one of the most rapidly changing cities on earth (and also has a lot of unused or under-used retail space).