Chicago's Live Launch makes shopping more social
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Live Launch. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
A new retail concept in the West Loop aims to be the modern mall, combining the online and IRL shopping experience.
The big picture: Live Launch features 11 storefronts of online-based brands in a warehouse-like space where customers can touch the products, try them on and assess quality before buying.
Why it matters: Brands get their product in front of shoppers without signing a long-term lease for a brick-and-mortar space and paying staff to work a store, and shoppers get to see what they're buying.
How it works: Each storefront has a QR code that directs to the product's website, where customers can purchase the item.
- Each 200-300-square-foot storefront's lease is one to three months and currently runs about $3,500-$4,000.
- Founder AJ Weinberg says that's less than it would cost to hire and staff a space, and about the same that brands spend on an ad campaign that runs for a few weeks.
Zoom in: The lease period also allows brands enough time to understand their audience and whether customers would return if they release a new product, Weinberg tells Axios on a recent visit.
- But it's not like a traditional mall with the same stores every time you visit.
- "I want the brands to come back, certainly, but the idea is that there's always something new for the customer to come see," Weinberg says.
State of play: Live Launch's current storefronts include Chicago Sky's first standalone shop selling apparel, Lux & Nyx handbags, designs by "Project Runway" contestant Michael Drummond and Surreal Cycling, where users can experience the cycling and fitness platform.
The bottom line: Live Launch is meant to make shopping a little more human again, not just a transaction that happens between scrolling.
- Plus, just like the mall, Weinberg wants Live Launch to be a place to meet up, grab a drink from Loop Coffee and hang out. Remember that concept?
If you go: Live Launch is located at 810 W. Washington Blvd.