Once you pop, you just can’t stop. No, we’re not talking about Pringles, but something equally addictive: shopping. And what better way to dig up some variety than visiting a rotating pop up shop?

Frederick Gugenberg is the brains behind Stop 15 Pop Up Shop, aptly named after the tram stop out the front. His philosophy goes something like this: ‘I take long service leave, my shop takes long service leave’. Genius.

After 12 years in business, Gugenberg’s motives aren’t limited to taking a break. Instead, he wants to give new retailers an opportunity to try out their trade without unwanted long-term contracts and high costs. The “for lease” sign went up at the end of December. Nine days later, the space was booked for the year.

Over 2012, a number of businesses will pop up in what was previously Frederick Gugenberg’s fashion store (and what will be again). The first tenant, The Virtual Goddess, broke free from the Internet and popped up at the start of the February. It will be selling clothing that “blurs the boundaries of high fashion and performance art” until April.

Stop 15 Pop Up Shop will also be home to a retro furniture bric-a-brac store, jewellery and designer clothing, an international fashion label, a Turkish coffee shop and a soup kitchen. It will even pose as an intimate performance space. Gugenberg, who simply can’t stay away from his “window to the world”, will also pop back in with a limited edition fashion showcase.

Come October, Frederick Gugenberg will be back selling his contemporary men’s fashion label. Until then, he’s free to recline on a beach sipping a cocktail while tenants blog about their pop up experiences, documented on Stop 15 Pop Up Shop’s official Tumblr site.

Location: 249A Gertrude St, Fitzory
When: Now until October
Details: stop15popup.tumblr.com/