New STORY to tell

A retail space that changes every 4 to 8 weeks. 

OK, that's insane. 

We've seen small retail spaces do this across multiple brands but never one that is curated by one brand. Not that actually closes and changes the fit-out each time! Well, now we have seen and what we saw was truly impressive.

But first, to back up a bit.

This trip to NYC started off feeling a little bit conservative. Talking to big brands and getting the sense that they thought change was something that happened on the moon, we started to feel disappointed. So off to find something of interest in the big apple. Surely this great city hasn't slowed down and got boring all of a sudden. Heading out down the High Line (which is amazing btw) we dropped in to Chelsea and chatted to a few locals. The talk of the town? Stories. A project curated by Rachel Shechtman with a single vision: Retail has a new STORY.

We finally found it and upon entry was surprised to find that this was not a low key, cheap approach to retail in an attempt to be different for different sake. It was good. Really good. Excellent branding. Superb interiors. And of course, a great story. The story. At this point, relief. Relief that that sense of worry just passed on by. NYC was back and ready to deliver.

Story is more like a magazine than a store. In the same way as a mag, the store completely changes to reflect a theme, trend or issues. Originally set up as a matchmaker between brands and consumers the space just keeps going further and further. From making pasta to hosting TED talks. 

Each story has a relevance to issues, trends or events happening at that very time. Previous stories include Good, Love, Made in America, Art, Wellness and of course Home for the Holidays, happening right now.

As part of the talk at the A.R.E. we talked about the importance of pop-ups and the sense of change they bring to a community. The fact that this sense of change keeps people coming back to bricks and mortar. As a whole, the US don't really embrace this new opportunity but this store, this goes way further than anything we've seen anywhere in the world! 

Could this be done in the UK? Would it bring a sense of something new to a town on the cutting edge? Eh, yeah! To the Westfield's of the world, get in touch with Rachel. This the next big thing.