Canadian homeware innovator Fable brought its ethos of sustainability and design-driven living to Southern California this season with The Holiday Pantry, an immersive pop-up at Platform LA in Culver City. The two-day event, open to the public from 10 AM to 5 PM, gathered locals around thoughtfully curated home essentials and interactive holiday experiences designed for festive hosting, meaningful gifting, and joyful connection.
Upon entering the pop-up, visitors were transported into a beautifully merchandised “pantry” filled with Fable’s signature tableware, glassware, and homewares—all set alongside a suite of essentials and giftable finds from retail partners including Recess, Coyuchi, Koala Eco, Catskills Candle Studio, Sauz, Nama, and Sockerbit. Shoppers enjoyed discovering collections in a high-visibility setting, with opportunities to see, touch, and learn about the quality craftsmanship behind every piece.
“The Holiday Pantry is about bringing community together around the table, both literally and figuratively,” explained co-founder Tina Luu in the brand’s announcement. “We wanted to create a space that embodies everything we love about the season: good design, meaningful connection, and moments that feel special, whether you’re hosting, gifting, or simply gathering.”
Fable’s Holiday Pantry pop-up at Platform LA distills what the brand does best in retail: turning short-term spaces into high-touch, community-driven experiences that bring its Canadian concept-store playbook to new markets. The conversation below focuses on how Fable approaches stores, pop-ups, and the operational backbone needed to scale them. In this exclusive, Co-founder and CTO Tina Luu speaks with interviewer Deniz Gumuslugil about why physical spaces matter more than ever for a digitally born brand, and how Fable thinks about retail as both a sales channel and a gathering place.
Reimagining Retail As Gathering
Deniz: When you think about the future of Fable, what part of the in-person customer experience are you most excited to innovate?
Tina: The brand was born online, so we’ve been very intentional about translating the digital experience it a way that feels immersive and helps customers truly understand the product. We know that the products need to be touched and felt, so as we’re trying to expand into retail, we are reimagining what a retail experience can be. In our Vancouver retail space, our HQ headquarters, we’ve actually put in a cafe and have monthly wine events. We invite local chefs to come in with local sommeliers, and we host an event to build community around the Fable brand. We are focused on creating experiences and bringing our customers together.
Deniz: And how does a pop-up like The Holiday Pantry fit into that retail vision?
Tina: It’s a natural extension. The three of us, the three co-founders, we love to host, meet people, share food and stories, and do it with Fable as a vehicle. To break bread. This pop-up is an extension of the retail experience.
Retail That Drives Results
Deniz: How did creating that retail space translate into sales? Do you see more sales coming from that?
Tina: We did see a lift, especially in Vancouver and Toronto. It’s because as you said, today, it’s about feeling it, touching it, seeing the colors. It makes a difference.
Deniz: Looking ahead, do you see permanent U.S. stores—like a potential LA or New York space—becoming part of Fable’s retail strategy?
Tina: We would love to be here and in New York City and connect with our U.S. audience.
Building the Right Partner Ecosystem
Deniz: As you grow your retail footprint and pop-ups, what do you look for in a production partner or supplier beyond the sustainability label?
Tina: We work closely with the team on designing and sourcing the products. When we look for partners, workers’ rights are very important to us. Equal rights for men and women are also very important. We like to visit the facilities to ensure they are the right partners and have a close relationship with the workers. We have a very close relationship with our Portuguese manufacturers for the ceramics.
We try to be as zero-waste as possible, everything is renewable and cardboard. We donate all returned items to local charities and work with several local charities back in Vancouver.
Deniz: From a sustainability standpoint, are there any practices from your ceramics partners that feel especially meaningful to you?
Tina: For our ceramic’s producer, they are fully zero-waste. 100% of clay shavings and biscuit are reincorporated and 100% of water is recovered and treated for re-use at the facility. During the day, the ceramics facility is 100% solar powered and the broken glazed ceramics are recycled into concrete.
Deniz: What has been the most unexpected operational challenge as Fable has scaled into more products, countries, and now more retail experiences?
Tina:Supply chain and inventory is a complex process. As we’ve grown our product line, we source from multiple countries. We try to find the best producers all around the world.
Deniz: And personally, what’s been the biggest lesson for you as a leader building these kinds of events and retail moments?
Tina: It’s being flexible and able to pivot. For example, we were supposed to have last night’s event outside in the garden, but we had to pivot quickly due to the weather and move the event inside the day of. But that’s the fun part of building a business. It’s being able to pivot and think creatively and find solutions.
Continuing the Momentum
For updates and more details, visit Fable Holiday Pantry.
