Still having fun: Former Record Revolution space hosts Big Fun holiday pop-up shop
Last holiday season, longtime Coventry business owner Steve Presser opened a pop-up version of his beloved Big Fun store for the second year in a row.
The 1981 'Cleveland is a Plum' book.“The community has asked for it,” he said last December after opening the popup. “I really, really, truly miss it. It means so much to the community, it means so much to the street, but it means a heck of a lot more to me. It's just so wonderful to be open and see my old customers again.”
Cue the fat snowflakes falling last Friday, Dec. 12, with about two inches accumulating on the ground and, like clockwork, Presser opened the doors to his third seasonal Big Fun Pop-Up Shop—this time in the former Record Revolution space at 1832 Coventry Road.
While he admits there were some bumps in opening, now that all operations are go, Big Fun will stay open through Sunday, Jan. 11, Presser says, the peak shopping season for retailers. “You’ll do roughly one-third of your business for the whole year in those six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years,” he explains as he urges people to support local small business and organizations.
There won’t be the signature toys or afghans this year, but Presser assures Big Fun fans that there will be plenty of vintage posters, bumper stickers, and Halloween masks, as well as t-shirts from over the years that advertise the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, CWRU’s Peter B. Lewis Building (designed by award-winning architect Frank Gehry), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Presser's friend and mentor Ted Frankel developed Big Fun's marketing for a poster of 70s heartthrob David Cassidy (1950-2017): 'Put a Partridge under your pear tree for the holiday.'Then there are backstage passes to concerts from the 1980s through the 2000s, 1970s Zodiac light bulbs, posters from the 1950s, and a tunic and dress from the legendary Ohio Knitting Mills.
Additionally, the Big Fun pop-up will house what Presser calls “a Coventry-hatched incubator,” with four entrepreneurs selling their creations.
“One [business] is a woman who sells flowers, plants, and herbs [called] MicroMagic,” he says. “Plan 4 Paws sells vegan pet treats, and Goddesstry Scents, which sells essential oils and candles.” The fourth business, which Presser says hasn’t set up yet, is KC Kakes & Cobblers, “which will be selling German chocolate cake and peach cobblers.”
While Presser operated the Big Fun pop-up for the past two years in the space that was his store’s home for 13 years, this year he says his old store front is now occupied and he had to search for a space where he could be a vendor.
“I wanted to be a vendor, not an operator, so I put an ad on Facebook,” he explains. The first week of December, Presser looked at the vacant Record Revolution and made arrangements to rent the iconic space.
“On December 3rd, I looked at it and I was ready to open on Saturday, the 6th but didn’t open until Friday Dec. 12,” he recalls. He spent the first weekend supporting his temporary Coventry neighbors—representing Big Fun at the Grog Shop’s Jingle Bell Holiday Shop and working with Artful at Coventry Village Winter Wonder & Lantern Fest on Saturday, Dec. 13.
“Saturday was a wonderful day,” Presser says.
Three days after opening and despite the snow and cold temperature, Presser continues to be happy to be back on Coventry for the holidays.
“Three days in, and I’m happy,” he says as he mentions the t-shirts he sells with the phrase “Cleveland: You Gotta Be Tough” printed on them and notes the bad weather. “In just the past three days, I have seen hundreds of people, and at least half of them I recognized.”
The Big Fun pop-up is open Monday through Saturday, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 1832 Coventry Road. The store will remain open through Sunday, Jan. 11.
