innovation Archives

The old retail world of big department stores and longstanding brands is being turned upside down on its head by new up-and-coming brands who are capturing the hearts (and wallets) of consumers, especially those of the Gen Z and millennial generations.

This is forcing many brands who have enjoyed decades of success to rethink their retail and marketing strategy. Stores are forced to innovate on what the consumer experience will be like and adapt to changing consumer tastes. Meanwhile, for successful online brands to further expand their footprint, they’re exploring new ways to engage with people in-person.

Enter Re:store.

The concept behind Re:store is to bring online brands that people love and give them an in-person physical presence so that their customers can interact with and feel the product in real life.

By housing all these brands under one roof, it makes it easier for shoppers to interact with many brands at once. And from the brand’s perspective, it’s more economical for them to experiment with a shared space instead of committing to a brick and mortar store or even a pop-up store.

I stumbled upon this store in Union Square in San Francisco and was intrigued by this concept. I took tons of photos of the whole space so you could see it. Enjoy!

re:store san francisco store — Storefront

When you walk in, to the right there is a nail bar! Wow. No one was there at the time, but I would have loved a retail experience where you can also get your nails done. With every brand that’s represented, there’s a little blurb that describes them.

Now here’s the rest of the store!

Each brand has a little section / some shelves.

On the descriptions, there’s also little stickers that denote different meanings like whether it’s sustainable fashion, supports a good cause, etc…

There’s jewelry too!

There’s an upstairs as well – 3 levels to be exact.

One of the stickers – IRL for the first time

On the third floor, they have a cool community space for events and such. They also said it was a free co-working space that was open to the public. Not sure if that’s changed since then, but if I lived closer, I would totally go work there!

For the calendar of future events, check out this link.

And last but not least, they also had a row of tablets for brands that have completely digital products. Each tablet was setup for a different brand, so you could sign up for a subscription for that brand – i.e. Masterclass, Calm meditation app, Imperfect Foods, and more.