Crazy retail
I love discovering hidden stores. There is something fascinating about the affect that a little bit of mystery has on the retail experience, and the way that consumers interact with a store and its products. The thought that goes into developing the concept often blurs the line between retail store and art gallery, with noticeable upside in product sales.
Hidden stores litter New York City, particularly in the high-end sportswear/footwear category. But there are two other examples that I have been thinking a lot about recently.
The first is Bodega in Boston. Firstly, it may be the best executed of all the hidden stores that I have seen – a beautifully curated sneaker store hidden behind a coke vending machine in the back corner of a fully functioning bodega. What is cool about Bodega is that the novelty does not wear off, and a lot of that relates to the expertise with which the store is staffed and managed. Putting it in Boston was pretty brave, but it is THE talked-about retail concept in the city.
The second was the Murakami exhibition that the Brooklyn Museum hosted back before Christmas. Right there, in amongst all this crazy, oversized hallucinogen-induced art was a fully-functioning Louis Vuitton store. The sheer cheekiness of putting a high-end handbag store slap in the middle of an exhibition was one of my NYC highlights of last year.
And so as the retail world turns its attention to the craze for temporary pop-up stores, I think it is worth reflecting back on a couple of stars of the last movement.
