I think one of the most fascinating and under-utilized trends in the retail world is pop-up stores: <a href="http://trendwatching.com/trends/POPUP_RETAIL.htm" rel="nofollow">http://trendwatching.com/trends/POPUP_RETAIL.htm</a><p>Combining this concept with serious statistical analysis of <i>when</i> people most often make purchases within different niches, and well-executed pre- ("coming soon...") and post- ("You missed us, but you can still buy online at...") store duration marketing campaigns, I think stores within many more niches could make a sizable profit.<p>Now's a particularly good time to do this because of the increased availability of prime retail space. Nation-wide there are malls with a larger number of unfilled spaces for rent due to the recession.