Once upon a time temporary shops were the preserve of pile-it-high, sell-it-cheap merchants. Their Windolene-smeared stores sat on the edge of town, plastered in red marker-pen signs telling us “everything must go”. Now they are called pop-up shops and are lovely boutiques in which luxury or unusual goods are sold to well-heeled customers in smart City locations.

Comme des Garçons led the trend with “guerilla” stores selling designer wear in unexpected locations for limited periods. But this winter the trend has really taken off, with small, quirky stores and luxury boutiques popping up in big cities worldwide.

Tyler Brûlé, the editor-in-chief of Monocle magazine, opened a pop-up shop just off Marylebone High Street in Central London, with the intention of keeping it open from November to March. Originally Mr Brûlé, who lives in the area, wanted to stop a vacant florist shop being taken over by a big chain. He saw the opportunity to create “something neighbourhoodsy” and to “add something new to the mix”, with a temporary store selling Monocle magazines and gifts. The shop has proved to be an excellent way of testing the market and trade has been so brisk that he wants to keep it open “for as long as we can”. It has also proved to be an unexpected way to keep in touch with readers, who come in to give feedback and offer story tips for the magazine. He is scouting for sites for pop-up shops in Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Moët & Chandon, the champagne house that already has an established customer base, opened its first British pop-up store this winter. The aim of this boutique is to offer customers an exclusive experience for a limited period. It sells bottles of champagne that shoppers can have customised, with Swarovski crystals, while they wait.

Atelier Moët, in New Bond Street, London, will be open from December to mid-March. Emelie de Vitis, senior brand manager at Moët, expects the London store to sell about 2,000 bottles of champagne during its brief lifetime. Moët pop-up stores have also opened in Madrid, Milan, Paris, Macau and Singapore, but they are concessions in other stores and hotels - London has the only standalone shop.

Moira Benigson, managing partner of the MBS Group, an executive search company for retail and consumer brands, describes the trend for luxury pop-up stores as “thrilling”.

She says that the pop-up model is good for several reasons: “The price of property for retail has become exorbitant, even for those at the top end, and so this is a clever way of getting around that.” They also offer customers the chance to discover one-off innovative stores: “It is lovely to drive around and search for these places ... it is possible to have a best-kept secret again - and in the age of chain stores, that is so lovely.”

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