These Fruit-Centric Pop-Ups Are Ringing in the Sweet Summer Season

Welcome the new season by exploring these berry sweet pop-ups.

June 5, 2024

There’s nothing that kicks off summer quite like the sweet resurgence of melons and berries. And in true event industry fashion, pop-ups across the U.S. took inspiration from seasonal produce to create experiences bursting with color that could only be described as a feast for the eyes.

Here, we’re highlighting three, including a fruit stand from Anthropologie that popped up in NYC and Los Angeles, where shelves were stocked with the retail giant’s fruit-filled summer finds, including cups dotted with cherries, wine glasses with bananas for stems, and raffia tote bags with lemon charms that would be right at home on the beach.

Scenic fabrication firm Argon Props also executed a fruity display across coasts in partnership with Brazilian beauty company Sol de Janeiro (SDJ) to celebrate its launch into Ulta stores. The bicoastal pop-ups took place on the same day, welcoming guests with an SDJ-branded fruit cart, where they received a complimentary guarana-flavored soda—a nod to the company’s roots in South America—and lottery tickets to redeem for prizes.

And vegan and cruelty-free skincare brand Glow Recipe paid homage to its superfruit-based products with a pop-up that fittingly celebrated its latest summer SPF, dubbed the Watermelon Glow Dew Balm. Naturally, the vibrant, pink structure was decked out in what’s debatably summertime’s most popular fruit.

Keep scrolling to see more from inside the summertime soirees…

Anthropologie’s Fruit Stand

Experiential agency CNC (previously Coffee ‘n Clothes) was the mastermind behind Anthropologie’s fashionable fruit stand, which cropped up in Manhattan’s Union Square Farmers Market May 17 and 18 before heading west, to The Original Farmer's Market at LA’s iconic Grove May 25 and 26. The stand itself was anchored in Anthropologie’s yellow branding with a focus on lemons, which included lemon vines draped over a yellow- and white-striped awning and cartons full of the summer citrus.

Photo: Courtesy of CNC

Passersby perused Anthropologie’s stylish new collection of summer apparel, homeware, and accessories. Guests who signed up for the retailer’s AnthroPERKS program received a fruit-themed gift, such as wine stoppers, cherry earrings, popsicles, and lip balm, among other sweet surprises.

Photo: Courtesy of CNC

Other fruity accessories in the seasonal assortment: wine glasses, candleholders, ceramic fruit baskets, cocktail napkins, and dish towels with charming messages like “I love you berry much.”

Photo: Courtesy of CNC

Sol de Janeiro’s Fruit-Forward Ulta Debut

Despite premiering at Ulta in February, Sol de Janeiro brought the summertime vibes with a fruit cart that welcomed guests into flagship stores in NYC and LA loaded with produce native to its home in Brazil (think: guarana, mango, and banana).

Photo: Courtesy of Argon Props

Ulta’s NYC outpost, where the pop-up took place, was decked out in a floral, SDJ-branded arch that set the tropical tone for the rest of the experience. Roughly 2,100 New Yorkers walked under the arch, according to PopUpMob, the local marketing firm that was behind the concept and design of the activation. Fellow New York firm Argon Props handled execution.

Photo: Courtesy of Argon Props

Once inside, lottery tickets were traded for product prizes, and an oversize gumball machine was also dispensing product samples, including SDJ’s iconic Bum Bum cream. Attendees who purchased a full-size product were given a floral bouquet upon exiting the store.

Photo: Courtesy of Argon Props

In LA, a stand-alone fruit stand was reimagined as a fruit truck—which doubled as an on-the-go floral shop where 1,200 guests were invited to curate their own bouquet. There was also a DJ on site spinning Brazilian beats, and custom-embroidered totes were handed out to those who made an SDJ purchase at the West Coast Ulta location in Burbank.

Photo: Courtesy of Argon Props

Glow Recipe’s Summertime Activation

Glow Recipe tapped Vector Media to transform a pink shipping container into an experiential activation that celebrated summer—and the skincare brand’s new Watermelon Glow Dew Balm, which boasts SPF 45. The event first stopped at Disney Springs in Orlando, Fla., May 10 and 11 before heading to Austin, Texas, for a two-day stint at the city’s Domain shopping center beginning May 31.

Photo: Courtesy of Vector Media

The mobile pop-up was open to the public and welcomed more than 2,000 guests in each city it stopped in, luring guests into its watermelon wonderland with a “touch-up station”—where they could sample Glow Recipe’s new Dew Balm—a ring toss game where participants won Glow Recipe products as prizes; UV bracelet giveaways that, of course, boasted fruity beads; as well as on-theme photo ops with additional giveaways for guests who posted their pics on social media.

Photo: Courtesy of Vector Media

Due to high demand, guests were required to join a virtual queue before entering the activation. But in a clever moment of lead generation, guests who purchased a Glow Recipe product at nearby Sephora locations were put into an express line and able to experience the sweet pop-up even sooner.

Photo: Courtesy of Vector Media