Every band seems to be in the pop-up store business now.

August 29, 2025 Alan Cross 0 Comments 1 min read

I was on my way to an event in Toronto last Saturday (August 23) on a route that took me past the Oasis pop-up store on Queen Street West. The line stretched around the block in two directions, eager to buy $65 T-shirts and Manchester City powder-blue Oasis kit for $155. Then at the show Monday night (August 25), the lines to all the merch stores at Rogers Stadium snaked back for a hundred metres. When all is said and done, Oasis (read: Noel and Liam) will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in merch profit.

Oasis wasn’t the first to offer pop-up stores. Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Drake, Kanye, and dozens of others have done the same thing over the last ten years with amazing results.

The latest is The Who ahead of their North American farewell “The Song is Over” tour.

Two shows are set for Budweiser Stage on September 2 and 4. On those days (including September 3) The Who Pop-Up Store will operate at Left Field Brewery at 40 Hanna Street in Toronto’s Liberty Village. Hours will be 12n to 11pm. And yes, there will exclusive Toronto-themed merch.