Wish you were here: a pop-up diary from Daily Drills
Postcards from Daily Drills founders Kennedy and Mary Ralph, sent before, during, and after their three-day Souvenir Shop at Shopify New York
Best friends Kennedy Crichlow and Mary Ralph Lawson Bradley founded Daily Drills almost six years ago, and have since built a lifestyle brand—and devoted community—out of stylish loungewear shot in warm, sun-soaked locales. The Los Angeles-based apparel brand hit $1 million in sales its first year, and its drops routinely sell through 65% on launch day, some nearly gone in minutes.
That world the duo has built mostly lives online, where 60% of sales run through the Daily Drills app and orders come in a constant stream. A physical pop-up, though, is a different beast, with one shot to take a brand people know through a screen and turn it into a place they can walk into and experience. For three days in June, they did exactly that at Shopify New York with a Souvenir Shop pop-up: exclusives only, here and gone as fast as they appeared.
We asked founders Kennedy and Mary Ralph to keep us posted as they went, tracking the big calls, sellouts, and surprises they encountered from prep mode until after the doors closed. The postcards came in three waves: two weeks out, live from the floor, and one week after. Here’s everything they sent.
📮Postmarked May 22: Two weeks before doors open
Getting deep in the details
Our biggest goal is to make the store feel lived-in, like it’s been a part of the city forever. Every decor item you’ll see has either been created from scratch or sourced from vintage and antique stores. Each detail is intentional, from the hangers to the photos in the frames to the giant t-shirt we’re currently having made.
Since it’s only a 3-day event, it can be easy to think the details don’t matter and that cheap and easy is the goal. But since we rarely pop-up in person, we don’t want to cut any corners. The whole dream is that walking in feels like stepping into one of our photoshoots, and that every touchpoint, from the line to checkout, feels smooth and fun.
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To be exclusive…or not to be?
Every time we do an in-person pop-up, our biggest question is: Do we keep the items as pop-up exclusives, or launch them online? It sometimes feels like we can’t win. If we launch it online, customers are frustrated that they waited in line for something they could have ordered from their couch. But if we keep it exclusive to the pop-up, customers who can’t travel feel like they’re missing out.
For our first pop-up, we filled the shop with our core products, since we figured it’d be a good entry point for new customers. This time, we flipped it: new, limited-edition styles and graphics so the customers who already shop us online have a reason to show up. Even our core pieces are getting exclusive graphics, and we’re debuting a few brand-new styles, because we had to make standing in line feel worth it.
Because the theme is a Souvenir Shop, we wanted the pieces to be a true souvenir of the pop-up experience. We recognize that not everyone who wants to be there will be there, so we’re doing a few giveaways: one for a flight credit to fly a customer to NYC to shop, and one for someone to win the entire collection.
Collaborating on our keepsakes
We can never leave a trip without picking up a fun little souvenir, so we started thinking about the ones we’ve collected over the years: the keepsakes we actually use versus the ones that end up in a junk drawer.
As for the collabs, we always think about our favorite spots and rituals in each city we pop-up in, then find ways to weave them into the experience. We love all things Abbode, and since makeup is a travel non-negotiable for us, creating an exclusive pouch felt like a natural extension. Another one of our NYC traditions is grabbing a photo strip at Old Friend, so we decided to take over their booth on the Friday of the pop-up weekend.
Worth the wait (we promise),
-K & M
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📮Postmarked June 7: Greetings from the shop floor
Day 1 - Friday, June 5
🏷️ First to sell out: Oversized Fleece New Yorker Crew in Heather Grey
👀 Wildest moment: Seeing the line on the first morning is always so surreal. You plan these things for months and never know how people will react, so seeing everyone IRL for the first time always makes it worth it!
⚡ Mood check: So excited and energized! We had a team dinner at La Esquina that night to celebrate opening day, and it was truly so special to recap, toast, and hang out with all of the people that worked so hard to make this happen.
💬 Best convo: A few of our top customers flew in from Texas just for the weekend. They’ve been part of DD since the beginning and have now been to all three of our in-person pop-ups, so getting to catch up with them in person never gets old!
Day 2 - Saturday, June 6
🏷️ First to sell out: DD x Abbode Waffle Pouch
👀 Wildest moment: We stepped out to grab lunch and saw the pink I ❤️ DD totes all over the city. Surreal! We’ve been at this for almost 6 years, but before that we were just best friends who love fashion, so being able to see our brand all over one of our favorite cities will never not feel crazy to us.
💬 Best convo: We’re working on a really exciting collaboration for next year and the individual we’re working with stopped by to say hi! We’d never met in person before, so it was so fun getting to talk to her, show her how incredible the DD community is, and start dreaming up our collab.
Day 3 - Sunday, June 7
🏷️ First to sell out: Big Apple Dad Hat
👀 Wildest moment: We always do 50% off the floor models for the last hour of the pop-up, and seeing everyone rush into the store at 5 pm was so fun. Lots of people came back for round two to snag something new, so we got to see familiar faces and say hi again! We love going out with a bang.
💬 Best convo: A dad came in by himself shopping for his daughter’s birthday! It was so sweet. We were his personal shoppers.
⚡ Mood check: WE DID IT! Feeling so incredibly blessed and just in awe of our community and team! We couldn’t have wished for a better weekend… the craziest part of it all is that our beautiful store will be gone by this time tomorrow.
Can’t believe it’s over,
-K & M
📮Postmarked June 12: One week later
What was totally dialed in
Inventory. We had data from our last two pop-ups to help guide our decisions. Since every item is limited-edition and exclusive to the shop, we’re always aiming for that sweet spot: making sure everyone who stops by has a chance to get what they want, without ending up with too much excess inventory once the pop-up closes. We built a balanced assortment with hero pieces we knew would drive demand alongside novelty items that made the experience feel special and collectible. Each pop-up teaches us more about customer flow, shopping behavior, and how to better plan the experience.
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The biggest surprise
We actually had more new customers than returning customers, which was a really fun surprise. In the past, it’s been either an even split or leaned more returning. We heard from a few of these new customers that they’ve always wanted to purchase from DD, but being able to touch, feel, and try on the pieces was super helpful, and now they feel more confident and excited to keep purchasing online!
Ready to do it again?
Duh! These one weekend pop-ups are always a whirlwind. There’s endless planning and long hours involved, but getting to meet our community IRL makes everything worth it. Our biggest takeaway for the next one? Keep getting bigger. As the brand grows, so does our community, which means bigger spaces, more inventory, and lots more surprises and exclusives.
Already planning the next one,
-K & M
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.