Easyplant New York City When it comes to buying plants or anything greenery-related, the first place that comes to mind is probably a humble nursery or small mom-and-pop shop, rather than a chic boutique. Easyplant aims to change that. The retailer opened its first bricks-and-mortar store at 15 Prince Street in New York City’s bustling Nolitaneighbourhood. As its name implies, Easyplant provides highly aesthetic, low-maintenance houseplants that come in self-watering Portuguese ceramic vessels
ic vessels.
Walking into the 1172-square-foot space designed by Ringo Studio, consumers are greeted by a 16-foot-long custom table with marble insets, anchored by a dramatic light fixture.
This linear layout guides visitors toward the back of the space, where a gracefully arched portal frames one of Easyplant’s best-selling products, creating a captivating focal point. The store offers a curated selection of over 100 plant types, from Anthurium Red to Parlor Palm, organised by size, light needs andpet-friendly options. Walking around the minimalist, showroom-like space composed of warm white oakshelving, naturally veined marble floor and an all-glass facade that floods the interior with natural light,consumers can’t help but be inspired to develop a green thumb.
“This store is more than a retail space; it’s an immersive experience that blends innovation with nature.We wanted to create a place where customers could not only shop but also feel inspired and educated about their choices,” Madelynn Ringo, founder of Ringo Studio, remarked.
Baobab
Miami, Florida
Baobab is a sustainable beachwear brand launched in Colombia in 2015. It uses recycled fishing nets, plastic bottles and other innovative materials to be as earth-friendly as it is fabulous. The brand has three bricks-and-mortar shops in Colombia, one store in New York City’s SoHo neighbourhood, and a new flagship location at one of Miami’s largest luxury shopping destinations, Aventura Mall.
Walking into the 2349-square-foot space designed by Colombian interior design firm Olmo Estudio, customers can explore the brand’s unique array from casual beachwear to dressier knitwear in a Miami-ready setting.
“Each Baobab store has its own unique DNA, even though they share common threads like drawing inspiration from nature and using curved designs,” brand founder and creative director Isabella Espinosaexplained.
“For ‘Heat Baobab,’ we channeled the vibrant energy of ’70s Miami, blending nude tones with colourful tiles to evoke the warmth and nostalgia of that era,” she added. “Picture breezy afternoons, retro architecture, and lively patterns that celebrate Miami’s playful, laid-back spirit.”
Heytea
New York City
Heytea first entered the beverage scene in 2012 when its founder, Nie Yunchen, got the idea to create a tea drink made with fresh milk rather than the powdered version typically available in Jiangmen, a city in the central Guangdong Sheng province of China. However, it was Yunchen’s introduction of ‘cheese tea’, a cold tea topped with a thick and frothy cream cheese-flavoured foam, that caused the brand to go viral. While the idea of cheese and tea remains unconventional to many tea drinkers today, the salty and sweet combination became popular with bubble tea enthusiasts and helped boost global recognition for the brand.
Today, there are over 4300 Heytea stores spread across 300 cities worldwide, with nine stores in the US. On September 13, Heytea opened its fifth brick-and-mortar location and first concept store at 1293 Broadway, in New York City’s bustling Herald Square area.
Jessica (Qinjie) Shen, Heytea’s associate global brand director, told Inside Retail that the concept store took inspiration from a traditional Chinese pavilion courtyard. With ink paintings inspired by historical artwork, lacquer craftsmanship and softened lighting to add a natural warmth to the setting, the store mixes tradition with modernity to create a peaceful atmosphere.
“The overall layout is aimed to create a place where guests can walk in, relax, recharge and enjoy an authentic, modern experience,” Shen enthused.
GU
New York City
Uniqlo’s sister brand GU opened its first pop-up in the US in the heart of New York City’s SoHo neighbourhood, in 2022. The brand’s name is based on the pronunciation of the Japanese word ‘jiyu,’ which translates to ‘freedom,’ and comes from the brand’s mission to provide high-quality and trendy fashion to a broad, international audience.
Following the success of the pop-up shop, GU opened its first US-based, permanent bricks-and-mortar location this September at 578 Broadway in New York City. The store also marks the brand’s first major foray outside of the Asian retail market, where it has about 470 stores.
With an expansive sales floor of about 10,225 square feet, the two-level store features a well-curated range of staple and trendy women’s and men’s clothing pieces and accessories for SoHo’s fashion-loving visitors to explore.
GU CEO Osamu Yunoki commented, “Since opening our first pop-up store in the US in the fallof 2022, we’ve had the opportunity to introduce GU products to many customers, which has greatly fueled our expectations for business growth in the US. We’ve leveraged the insights gained to create arobust framework for global product development and business operations.
“We look forward to bringing GU fashion to an even broader audience,” Yunoki concluded.
H&M
New York City
This October, apparel and accessories giant H&M launched a special pop-up shop in New York City, justin time for the holiday season. The pop-up, located at 372 Broome Street in New York City’s trend-setting SoHo neighbourhood, was designed in partnership with renowned LA-based design studio Perron-Roettinger.
The shop is open from October 24 to December 29 and offers customers unique shopping experiences such as access to limited re-releases of pre-loved pieces from guest designer collaborations ranging from Viktor & Rolf to Versace. The pop-up also presented guests with the opportunity to create personalised bottles of essential oils inspired by New York.
“This new pop-up is a celebration of the H&M brand and an opportunity for us to continue to show up for our customers in new ways. We’ve been experimenting with new store concepts and design in New York City, such as our recently opened H&M SoHo location, with the aim of building modern, engaging spaces for our customers,” Michael Beaumont, regional head of expansion for H&M Americas, stated.
“With our H&M Nolita pop-up, as well as our multitude of other store openings in top cities across the Americas this fall, we’re excited to build on our strong heritage while embracing the future.” Those cities include Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Elmhurst, Queens.
Commodity Fragrances
New York City
Commodity Fragrances is the embodiment of a comeback kid. The brand first came to life in 2013 after asuccessful Kickstarter campaign. It is known for its unique range of products inspired by non-traditional scents like paper, moss and milk. Then, it experienced a rebirth after being acquired by Europerfumes in 2019. After over two years, the brand launched its first permanent bricks-and-mortar space at 113 Crosby Street in the fashion and fragrance-loving area of New York City’s SoHo. Designed in collaboration with Shed London and RDK architects, the final outcome of the store’s 1000-square-foot layout is the perfect meld of perfume store meets SoHo art gallery.
“The Commodity flagship store on Crosby Street is the first and only place in the world that the entire scent space concept can be fully visualised and experienced. The choice of Crosby Street versus other streets with more footfall was for its unique status as a historic New York street,” Vicken Arslanian, the founder and president of Europerfumes, CEO of Twisted Lily, and owner and ‘re-founder’ of Commodity Fragrances, stated.
“I consider ourselves underdogs in the industry and I consider Crosby Street an underdog street where one has to earn success by driving and inviting customers to this destination.”
Loewe
Chicago, Illinois
This October, the Spanish fashion house unveiled a luxurious new bricks-and-mortar store dubbed Casa Loewe, in Chicago’s high-end Oak Street district. The 2594-square-foot boutique spans two floors and exemplifies creative director Jonathan Anderson’s vision of retail at a living art gallery.
The artsy vibe of the location is further enhanced by furniture selection, such as the Utrecht armchairs and wooden and felt Berin chairs, placed amongst items like a black terrazzo table, iron martini tables, ceramic vessels and a Noguchi lamp.
Walking into the aesthetic space, customers are greeted by hand-crafted ceramic tiles in shades of deep blue, aquamarine and rich brown, and a sweeping staircase fitted with an artisan-made, Georgian-inspired wooden handrail. The deliberate combination of the oak wood, concrete and marble materials creates a warm environment for customers as they explore Loewe’s complete universe of women’s ready-to-wear, accessories and leather goods.
This story first appeared in the December 2024 issue of Inside Retail US magazine.