MAKING CHANGE
A RETAIL BLOG
Viewing entries tagged
Consumer Experience
A little more than a year after they opened their Google flagship store in Chelsea, the tech giant introduced its second retail location in Brooklyn’s shopping hub, Williamsburg. Google’s first “neighborhood” brick-and-mortar store aims to represent the future of tech-related retail. The store's bright, sleek, and airy design feels friendly but uniform, with design nods appealing to the surrounding neighborhood’s style.
Bala, known for bringing the ankle weight to the 21st century with their “bangles”, opened a new pop-up to celebrate the launch of their new Balacize online fitness program and expanded line of products. Located on Spring Street across from the Alo flagship in Soho, their temporary space took cues from Glossier’s retail design strategy, creating a pop-up less like your run-of-the-mill store and more like a sculptural interactive installation. Now through September, go check out the space for yourself or sign up for their limited run of classes.
Strategically situated in the heart of Meatpacking, Instagram’s IRL Shop pop-up showcased its “greatest hit” for spring/summer, celebrating its favorite minority-owned small businesses in the home, beauty, and lifestyle categories.
The pandemic has accelerated our dependence on Amazon’s fast, safe and easy shipment of virtually anything for most Americans. Since they’ve monopolized the home delivery market, they continue to trial and error IRL categories, hoping to seamlessly merge our reliance on their technologies, whether shopping online or in-store. We checked out a couple of their convenience, Amazon Go locations, and their hybrid Starbucks/Go store to see how they're attempting to bring more ease to in-store experiences.
There is nothing more recognizably NYC than hot dog stands, “showtime” subway performances, and bodegas. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen the trend of brands creating their own pop-up bodega to showcase their products. The juxtaposition of mixing high-end designs with the humble corner store aesthetic breeds an authentic and effective experience. Kith takes over a Carrol Garden’s corner store bodega to launch their collab with Kith Treats x Cheerios for one day only.
As we are (hopefully) transitioning to the endemic stage of the COVID era, more states are looking for ways to entice travel & tourism. Florida has notoriously been a travel destination during the pandemic; with its lax lockdown policies and mandates, as of 2022, the state has surpassed its pre-pandemic tourism levels.
The Palm Beaches of Florida, wanting to further their tourism sales, utilized design innovation and social media tactics to host a pop-up, bringing the Golden Age of Travel to Grand Central in NYC.
