A pop-up shop is a temporary store that is usually only open for several months, and is becoming a popular trend in areas such as Los Angeles and New York where foot traffic is a commodity.
These short-term retail spaces are usually owned by online merchants who want to let customers experience their products first hand. Fleet pop-up shop is downtown Lewisburg’s newest boutique, and as of now, plans to be open for only six months. Owner Soleil Gray runs her boutique online as well, at solcreationboutique.com.
Gray, a Greenbrier County native, opened Sol Creation Boutique on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico, which she ran for nine years. She moved to the rural island with the dream of opening her own shop, and after it took off, she was able to open a second location. The devastation of Hurricane Maria pushed Gray to relocate back to her hometown of Lewisburg and reopen her boutique under a new name.
Fleet carries quality clothing pieces that Gray hand-picks during her many travels. “You don’t need a huge selection if every piece is desirable. Less is more,” she says. Gray has always been a fashion lover, and extended that passion into retail as part of her larger plan of creating her own collections. Voisin, a collection Gray created, she describes as a balance between island life and metropolitan sophistication.
“It’s kind of boho, very chic, and all very good material,” says Rebecca Anderson, a good friend of Gray’s who helps her run the store. “This is her passion, and she’s very good at it.”
Along with clothes, Fleet also carries swimwear, leather bags, glassware, art, linens, handmade jewelry, and more. Hurry and stop in, before they’re gone!