Story

I have written about Story before and the founder Rachel Shechtman but after going to the new Story I have to write again.  Every 4-8 weeks the story completely changes.  It is brilliant, pure and simple.  It is always an insane amount of work.  I had lunch with Rachel and we walked over to the Story to see the latest installment.  She was beyond excited about this installment and visibly glad that it was complete.  The creativity and production that goes into these “labs” for consumers, brands is intense.

This store has multiple gifts for yourself, friends and family for the holidays.  I have gone back twice now and made a few purchases.  I will return again.  Everything is hard not to want to bring home.  Here are a few of my favorites.

storyshoesThese shoes are perfect for emoji lovers.  Each day you can change the emoji based on how you are feeling.

chanelCoco Chanel’s gospel

makeoutOne wall of items.  I got a chuckle out of the pillow that says “just seriously let’s make out”.

hatsscarvesHats and scarves.  The hat with the pom-pom is clever.  It comes with different colors so you can snap a new one on based on your mood that day.  Pink?  Black?

storyopeningThe spread at the front door.

fuckinggeniusHere is a pouch for items but to me it describes the store.

comfortzoneI bought this for my desk.

womenknoweverythingI got this too.

stomrtopassKinda loved this.

productsProducts for the bath and kitchen.

barDrinks?

menMens.

jewishdogRaising a Jewish dog?

tshirtKids stuff galore.  I loved this t-shirt.  There are a few different ones.

tattoosTattoos?

fireplaceThis ventless fireplace is pretty sweet.

Worth a visit!

Comments (Archived):

  1. Brandon Burns

    This model makes so much sense online, too.Both online and off, you have to stock your store with new things to keep people coming back. However, when you have a handful of new items every two weeks, it’s not news. But if you have a much bigger launch every two months, attached to a great narrative about the collection, it’s news each time. It would lead to manufactured booms in not just PR, but also email conversion rates every two months — and email to existing users is usually the highest converting marketing channel for an ecommerce company.However, staple products — the ones that stores know will sell well for months and maybe years — are often a plurality of sales in retail stores. With the brick and mortar version of this model, you have a problem stocking any one product continuously because the theme of the store changes every two months — you just can’t make it fit thematically (aside from the costs of holding inventory). Online, you can easily have a section of most popular items that lives separate from the current story. It’s a version of this model that would likely be more profitable.Too bad I’ve heard Rachel say at several talks that she’s not interested in doing this online. Oh well.

    1. Gotham Gal

      With the right team and funding she probably would. It’s a lot of work as it is to do this every six weeks

      1. Brandon Burns

        Retail is hard. And as much as investors love to talk about the capital efficiency and scalability of doing it online, the reality of actually doing it isn’t any easier. And, really, the costs of brick and mortar are negligible — a storefront is a cheaper and higher converting marketing channel than online ads, which you throw so much money at in ecomm. Retail and eRetail are the same game, and equally hard.I don’t blame Rachel. Even with the right team and funding, ecomm is a beast! But if anyone can do it, it’s her. For sure.

  2. Jenna Abdou

    I keep looking at these pictures! I love them. Can’t wait to stop by next time I’m in the city. Thank you again for sharing!

  3. Jeff Jones

    I want that ventless fireplace! Was it for sale or just part of the store design?

      1. Jeff Jones

        Thanks Joanne.