Every week it seems a new pop-up shop is opening in New York. Temporary boutiques have become as ever-present a fixture in the fashion community as designer collaborations. Just take Space 15 Twenty, Loomstate, Y's Mandarina, LA’s Decades Two and Bond Street’s Billy Reid, for instance ... just some of the pop-up shops launching in LA and NYC this month. And it’s for good reason, argues a recent piece in the The Real Deal -- one that specifically parallels the downfall of freestanding flagship fashion outposts.

Mega-retailers and smaller boutiques alike are on the hunt to unload spaces to subleasers as a result of the economic downturn. Whereas flagship stores were considered an essential for high-fashion brands in the past; fashion houses are learning that in the current economic climate, “viewpoints have changed.”

And this is exactly why pop-up shops -- once relegated to off-the-beaten-path NYC locales as a result of exorbitant rents -- are now surfacing on high-end Manhattan stretches like SoHo and Madison Avenue. Moral of the story: Don’t expect the pop-up shop trend to fade anytime soon. As long as retailers can excite shoppers with exclusive offerings for a limited time, there’s a good chance temporary boutiques will weather the current economic storm.