The idea of using a home – or home-like setting – from which to sell home furnishings products has been around a long time. The very concept of model rooms in department stores – as epitomized at their extreme by the famous Bloomingdale’s model rooms of the 1990s – was a cornerstone of that distribution channel and many specialty retailers adapted similar formats.
More recently, three new stores have opened in New York City using homes – real or imagined – as the setting for their retail businesses. Each seeks that authentic atmosphere that is a linchpin for attracting the new generation of shoppers who insist on back-stories and genuine surroundings to go along with their purchasing process.
The most established of this new trio is The Apartment by The Line, which functions almost as an incubator for businesses entering the home space. The Apartment is just that: a third-floor actual apartment at 76 Greene Street in SoHo. Merchandise, which could include $12,00 velvet couches in addition to more moderately priced goods, is arranged by room and everything is for sale.
Only a few blocks west and still in SoHo at 143 Springs Street is the brand new One Kings Lane store, which just opened on Nov. 2. While located in a retail storefront, the two-story space is arranged like an apartment, with merchandise assorted according to room type. There’s even a kitchen for this store, which marks the first permanent location for the one-time online flash sale site that is now owned by Bed Bath & Beyond.
Floyd, the Detroit-based direct-to-consumer furniture site that has tested physical stores, is also getting into the home-as-retailer format, opening its own pop-up store for a one-month trial, also in SoHo at 496 Broadway. The Floyd store is located in an actual apartment as well and given the company’s limited assortment, it would seem to be an ideal showcase.
For all these companies and others who might follow, the home-as-store concept is back and remains a very viable and compelling way to drive traffic back into physical stores.