Pop-up shop Gantt chart template: venue, permits, trading and pack-down
An editable pop-up shop Gantt chart: venue booking, trading and event permits, displays, stock lead time, staff and promotion, two weeks of trading, then pack-down and handing the venue back, with dependencies and milestones.
What the pop-up shop gantt chart template: venue, permits, trading and pack-down process is
A pop-up trades for days or weeks, but most of its plan happens before it opens and some of it after it closes. The venue has to be booked before a permit can be applied for, displays are made to order, stock has a lead time, and the space has to be emptied and returned on a date the venue sets. Because the run is short, a few days lost before opening are a large share of it. A timeline shows which task decides the opening day and how much room the rest of the preparation has.
This template has four groups: Venue and permits, Design and build, Stock and staff, and Run and close. "Set goals, budget and target dates" (3 working days) is the only starting task, and it starts two streams at once: "Find and book the venue" (8) and "Choose products and order stock" (3), because stock with a long lead time cannot wait for an address. "Venue booked" is the first gate. "Apply for trading and event permits" (2) and "Hire and brief pop-up staff" (5) both follow it, since neither can be done without a venue. "Design the space and displays" (5) starts 3 days into the venue search with a start-to-start link, once a shortlist gives the likely space.
In the illustrative numbers "Permit review" (10) decides "Doors open". It ends 23 working days into the plan, "Build and dress the space" (2) waits for it, and the doors open after 25. The rest of the preparation has room. "Produce displays, graphics and signage" (10) is ready 2 working days before the build, "Stock lead time" (12) ends 7 days before the doors open, and the staff are hired and briefed 9 days before. "Set up payments and Wi-Fi" (1) starts on the second day of the build, and "Promote the pop-up" (10) starts once the design exists, so the campaign can show what the space will look like. Where the permit wait is shorter, the displays can become the chain that sets the date, so check them next.
After "Doors open" the plan is the run and the close. "Trade the pop-up" is 10 working days, which is two calendar weeks: the chart counts Monday to Friday only, so a shop that also trades on Saturdays and Sundays still has a 10-day bar, not a 14-day one. "Pack down and remove displays" (1) follows the run, and "Venue handed back" closes the plan after 36 working days. Compare that date with the end of your booking, because the venue's date does not move with your plan. All durations are illustrative; replace them with the venue's terms, supplier quotes and what the licensing authority tells you.
A timeline schedules the work. It does not obtain a trading permit, make a temporary structure safe or agree terms with the venue. For a permanent shop with a lease and a shop fit, see /templates/store-opening-gantt-chart; for drawing permits as waiting time and gates, see /guides/opening-permits-and-inspections-gantt-chart; and for how a pop-up compares with the other opening plans, see /guides/new-location-opening-gantt-chart. A pop-up that is mainly an event or a campaign can borrow from /templates/event-planning-gantt-chart and /templates/marketing-campaign-gantt-chart.
What this flowchart covers
In this template
- Four groups, Venue and permits, Design and build, Stock and staff and Run and close, with 17 tasks and three milestones: "Venue booked", "Doors open" and "Venue handed back".
- A venue gate: "Apply for trading and event permits" and "Hire and brief pop-up staff" both follow "Venue booked", while "Choose products and order stock" starts straight after the goals.
- A 10-day "Permit review" in front of "Build and dress the space", the chain that decides "Doors open" in the illustrative numbers.
- Preparation that runs beside the permit: "Produce displays, graphics and signage", "Stock lead time", "Promote the pop-up" and "Set up payments and Wi-Fi", which starts on the second day of the build.
- A run and a close: "Trade the pop-up" (10 working days), "Pack down and remove displays" and "Venue handed back".
When to use this template
- You are planning a temporary shop, a seasonal store or a brand pop-up and need one plan for the venue, suppliers, staff and promotion.
- You want to see whether the permit review, the displays or the stock lead time decides the day the doors open.
- The venue is booked for fixed dates and you want to check that the preparation fits before them and the pack-down fits after the run.
- You run pop-ups regularly and want a standard plan to resize for each location.
The plan, task by task
Every task in the chart with its length in working days and what it waits for. A dependency is a step number; SS is start-to-start, FF is finish-to-finish, and +n is a lag in working days.
| # | Task | Group | Working days | Depends on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set goals, budget and target dates | Venue and permits | 3 | |
| 2 | Find and book the venue | Venue and permits | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | Venue booked | Venue and permits | Milestone | 2 |
| 4 | Apply for trading and event permits | Venue and permits | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Permit review | Venue and permits | 10 | 4 |
| 6 | Design the space and displays | Design and build | 5 | 2SS+3 |
| 7 | Produce displays, graphics and signage | Design and build | 10 | 6 |
| 8 | Build and dress the space | Design and build | 2 | 5, 7 |
| 9 | Choose products and order stock | Stock and staff | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | Stock lead time | Stock and staff | 12 | 9 |
| 11 | Hire and brief pop-up staff | Stock and staff | 5 | 3 |
| 12 | Set up payments and Wi-Fi | Stock and staff | 1 | 8SS+1 |
| 13 | Promote the pop-up | Run and close | 10 | 6 |
| 14 | Doors open | Run and close | Milestone | 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 |
| 15 | Trade the pop-up | Run and close | 10 | 14 |
| 16 | Pack down and remove displays | Run and close | 1 | 15 |
| 17 | Venue handed back | Run and close | Milestone | 16 |
How it works
Make the venue the gate
Keep "Venue booked" as the milestone that the permit application and the staff follow. If you already have a venue, shorten "Find and book the venue" to the days it takes to sign.
Replace the permit wait
Set "Permit review" from what the licensing authority or the venue tells you. These waits vary widely from place to place, and in the template this one decides "Doors open".
Set the lead times
Set "Stock lead time" and "Produce displays, graphics and signage" from supplier quotes, then check that both still end before "Build and dress the space".
Set the length of the run
Give "Trade the pop-up" five working days for each week it trades. A two-week run is 10 working days even if you trade every day, because durations count Monday to Friday only.
Plan the pack-down
Keep "Pack down and remove displays" and "Venue handed back" in the plan and compare the hand-back date with your booking. Add a cleaning or walk-round task if the venue asks for one.
Add owners, share and export
Put the person responsible for each task in People, share the chart as a link with the venue and your suppliers, and export a PDF or PNG for the team.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should I plan a pop-up shop?
Far enough for the slowest chain. In the template the venue search and the permit review put "Doors open" 25 working days after the first task, about five working weeks. The numbers are illustrative: replace them with your own and read the date from the chart.
My venue is booked for fixed dates. Can the chart check them?
Yes. Give "Set goals, budget and target dates" a fixed Start on the day you begin, then give "Doors open" a fixed Start on your first trading day. The plan starts on the earliest fixed Start and is scheduled forward: if the permit and the build cannot be done by then, "Doors open" is flagged with a conflict naming the earliest date its dependencies allow. Then compare "Venue handed back" with the last day of your booking.
Why is a two-week run only 10 days long?
Durations are working days, Monday to Friday. A pop-up that trades seven days a week for two weeks is still 10 working days in the chart, and its bar spans the two calendar weeks. Count the weeks, not the trading days, when you set the length. There is no holiday calendar, so add a day to a preparation task for each public holiday that falls inside it.
Does the chart apply for the permit or tell me when it is granted?
No. It shows when to apply and how long you plan to wait. It does not submit an application, know whether a permit has been granted or send alerts. When you hear, change the duration of "Permit review" and the dates after it move.
Can I use it for a market stall or a seasonal store?
Yes. Remove what you do not need, such as the permit tasks if the venue holds the permits, and resize the rest. For a shop with a lease and a fit-out, start from /templates/store-opening-gantt-chart instead.