There are creative new retail solutions geared just for those remarkable yet little-known, online-oriented brands that experience challenges with starting up their own physical retail footprint. Both TENSPACE and Pop Up Grocer have developed unique ways to feature these underrepresented retailers.
TENSPACE will debut an 1,800-s.f. store on a street-front space in the Short North Arts District in Columbus, Ohio, this month. The company will feature one relatively unknown up-and-coming brand for a two-month stint. The initial brand to be featured is Rudis, a Marysville, Ohio-based sports apparel/athleisure retailer that primarily focuses on the wrestling industry. Brands that will be featured in the future will primarily be emerging online-based retailers that want to test out brick-and-mortar spaces, especially in the Midwest. These will include a food and beverage brand during the holiday season, followed by home goods products and health and beauty labels.
TENSPACE differentiates itself from the average pop-up shop space because it is conceived of, curated and managed by TENFOLD, a design firm specializing in creative workplaces that incorporate business branding strategies, including experiential activations for special events. The TENFOLD team will embellish each highlighted brand’s TENSPACE shop with unique interactive displays. For example, the Rudis-branded store will have wrestling-focused features such as a hanging punching bag that customers can decorate with stickers displaying various “issues” they can punch.
Special ticketed events in the branded store space are also to be expected. TENFOLD will then receive a share of the brand’s store, ticket event and online sales. Because TENFOLD also has offices in New York City, it is conceivable that this unique concept may make an appearance there in the future.
Pop Up Grocer is a traveling, one-month pop-up shop that features an exclusively curated assortment (about 400 brands) of new-to-market grocery-type items that have a unique, buzzworthy appeal with millennials. The preferred locations are 1,000-s.f. retail street-front spaces in trendy metro neighborhoods. Each item in the store, culled from Instagram, has a compelling element to it, whether it’s a new spin on a classic product or a founder who is of a minority race. Products range from food and beverage to body care, home décor and pet supplies. Each pop-up shop not only tries to incorporate locally sourced products from the particular city it visits, but is also a venue for brands hoping to penetrate new markets. The concept, which began in 2019, has already made an appearance in cities such as Austin, Venice, Calif., Chicago and New York City, the latter being the space where Pop Up Grocer will open its first permanent location later this year. Also in the works will be an expanded Pop Up Grocer website, where customers can purchase curated boxes of the featured items.
