Retail Trend: Hype Brands Learn To Get Retail Real

To reach more customers and sell more merch, savvy lifestyle brands are translating their online hype into real-life experiences by opening brick and mortar storefronts in strategic locations to complement their online points of sale.

Kanye’s YZYSPLY's next big “drop” is a physical retail store
Sneakerheads and streetwear fit gods rejoice, Kanye West’s sneaker and apparel company YZYSPLY has filed trademarks to help the brand expand from its current digital-only state to brick-and-mortar “retail stores” and “retail store services,” even hinting at an expanded product line. High Snobiety

Hypebeast tees up golf brands in Tokyo store
Lifestyle brand Hypebeast, which got its start as a sneaker blog in 2005 and went public earlier this year through a SPAC, has launched a “Hypegolf” store in Japan in collaboration with Jun Co, an apparel and lifestyle creation company. The location will serve as a retail platform for up-and-coming golf brands without a physical presence. Hypegolf

Nike opens newest concept in Seoul's “sneakerhead” neighborhood
Nike Style, Nike’s latest store concept, is opening in the South Korean capital's trendy Hongdae neighborhood. The high-tech store will “blur the line between physical and digital as it remixes sport and retail culture,” by offering AR experiences tied to art installations and product innovation, as well as a content studio. Nike

Exit through the gift shop: Abloh merch is hot ticket at BK museum show
Virgil Abloh fans have been flocking to the Brooklyn Museum’s “Figures of Speech” exhibit devoted to the late fashion designer, both to reflect on the show as well as to “cop” the increasingly popular merch from the museum gift shop, with some even attempting to buy the Abloh-designed uniforms worn by security guards. Brooklyn Museum

Interested in getting insights like this in your inbox? Subscribe to Retail Innovation Week's FREE Weekly Newsletter – Click here!