Want to see the store of the future? It might be tm:rw, a three-story, 20k-square-foot retail space in Times Square.
The concept comes via Smartech Retail Group, co-founded by Nathalie Bernce and Jacov Nachtailer, who previously designed retail spaces for European department stores KaDeWe and Renascent.
It’s billed as being for “founders, inventors, and visionaries who believe in shaping what’s next” but you can also visit a cafe where a robot spins artful cotton candy bouquets.
Why it's special
Over 120 brands are represented across displays and interactive experiences. Shoppers can play video games, sing karaoke, listen to music, test drive a racing simulator, visit a photo booth, and more.
It’s also full of high-tech gadgetry like a $400 smart toaster, transparent TVs, and what tm:rw claims is the world’s largest 3D retail hologram.
Jordan Traxler, global head of marketing, described it to Time Out New York as, “If Bergdorf had a baby with Brookstone but raised it in a Disney utopia.”
What’s in it for brands?
Brands can get even their most-high tech and expensive products in front of potential consumers without having to maintain their own brick-and-mortar spaces and with more longevity than a convention like CES.
They can also receive data on how customers engage with their product thanks to tm:rw’s cameras, which track customers' dwell time and other shopping behaviors.
Meanwhile, consumers…
… get to try a variety of products they’d be unlikely to see anywhere else in an experiential space that encourages real-world participation, unlike ecommerce or traditional stores.
For example, Gillette is a brand you’ll find in any grocery store, but tm:rw’s grooming products are found in a mock barber shop with interactive mirrors.
This is key for brands that want to engage customers IRL, especially as extreme anti-theft protections and the rise of online shopping have turned them away from malls and brick-and-mortar retail.
If today's consumers are going shopping, they want it to be an experience — not a chore. And what could possibly be more of an experience having a disastrous time on a VR bird simulator?
