Hourglass is getting again into the brick-and-mortar recreation.
On the heels of testing the waters final yr with a Barneys New York pop-up, Hourglass is taking the identical area in SoHo, New York, as its new world flagship.
The 1,500-square-foot storefront was meant to be an “setting and area that felt such as you have been coming into my dwelling. We wished this retail expertise to really feel very partaking, very intimate, and really heat,” mentioned Carisa Janes, founding father of Hourglass. “It’s not a standard magnificence vacation spot.”
TMR Design and Crozier Research designed the area, which eschews digital screens in favor of intimate gathering areas and pure supplies.
In that vein, the counters housing the model’s core assortment are literally separate plinths that may be repurposed and repositioned, or cleared out completely ought to the model use the area to host an occasion. “We used a mix of stone, metallic and wooden for the principle constructions of the area. They home every franchise, however that’s all modular,” Janes mentioned.
Janes additionally ideated just a few separate sitting areas for purchasers to check merchandise extra casually. “Within the entrance of the area, there’s an enormous sofa, the place you possibly can simply sit and take a look at make-up. I’d like to have new merchandise out,” Janes mentioned. “You may come and play and sit down, and also you don’t must e-book a makeover.”
The shop incorporates a devoted gifting space with customizable present wrapping, in addition to vanities on the other wall for make-up trials. “We put the mirrors in entrance of the home windows so that you get all of that lovely pure mild,” Janes mentioned.
It’s not the model’s first go at bodily retail, having had two shops that closed in the course of the pandemic. “I do know this world to a sure diploma,” Janes mentioned. “The sweetness purchasing expertise can really feel very chaotic, and I wished this to be the other of that. We discovered rather a lot in the course of the Barneys pop-up.”
Amongst these learnings was the success of stay occasions and programming within the area, and there may even be unique product drops, grasp lessons, artwork installations and trunk exhibits.
“We realized there was such an urge for food for neighborhood and for a bodily area to carry collectively neighborhood,” Janes mentioned of the experiences provided on the Barneys New York pop-up. “This brings individuals into the Hourglass world.”
Janes mused that the area may very well be used for small-scale focus teams, and bringing buyers into the fold for brand spanking new merchandise pre-launch. “What if we wished to strive a perfume? We may simply get suggestions from our neighborhood. That is such a possibility to be near the shopper,” she mentioned.
Whether or not or not the model would open extra stand-alone brick-and-mortar shops, Janes didn’t rule it out, however didn’t assure it both. “If it really works, sure,” Janes mentioned. “Nevertheless it’s not like we’re opening 20 shops within the subsequent three years.”
