TYSONS, VA—Shopping center owner and operator Macerich is unveiling its “BrandBox” turnkey concept at Tysons Corner Center here for digital retail brands to open and operate stores and scale physical retail as a complement to their ecommerce operations.

The first BrandBox location will open this weekend at Tysons Corner Center with Winky Lux, Naadam, Interior Define, Nectar Sleep, DKNY, and UrbanStems as participating retailers. Additional locations are expected to open in 2019 at select Macerich properties.

“Our extensive research and direct experience with top digitally native brands has helped us to understand how essential offline retail is to their future growth and success,” says Kevin McKenzie, EVP and chief digital officer, Macerich. “With BrandBox, we're excited to formalize our commitment to these smart up-and-coming brands, and be a true partner, every step of the way, as they expand their footprint beyond the digital world.”

“While Naadam lived exclusively online for our first few years, we have seen firsthand the importance of physical retail with the opening of two stores this year,” says Matt Scanlan, CEO and co-founder of Naadam. “Opening and operating stores in multiple cities is challenging, particularly for young brands. Partnering with BrandBox to enter the DC market has really streamlined the laborious process of creating a storefront that truly encapsulates our brand ethos.”

Macerich explains that BrandBox is a package of flexible real estate plus all of the services needed to set emerging brands up for success with physical retail.

A BrandBox store ranges from 500 square feet to 2,500 square feet and leases run six to 12 months. Spaces have modular walls and tracking systems to be easily re-oriented for a new store configuration, and lighting and fixtures are easily swapped out.

Each store comes prefabricated with plug-and-play technology and utility including WiFi, retail analytics (pre-wired to support all major POS systems), security tags and cameras, storage for inventory and a breakroom.

BrandBox works closely with each brand and design partners to help brands quickly and cost-effectively navigate the design process. The result is a storefront where consumers can experience a retail environment that mirrors a brand's ethos, Macerich notes.

In addition, BrandBox brands have access to a proprietary retail analytics dashboard to measure in-store sales and customer engagement as they would in the digital world by analyzing data including anonymized foot traffic, conversion, customer flows, and sales. They can measure a lift in local ecommerce traffic resulting from opening a store with BrandBox.

As part of the commitment to be a resource for brands navigating the shift to offline retail, BrandBox offers extensive educational content on BrandBox.com.

Santa Monica, CA-based Macerich currently owns 52 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 48 regional shopping centers. Macerich specializes in successful retail properties in many of the country's most attractive, densely populated markets with significant presence in the Pacific Rim, Arizona, Chicago and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor.

Instant Insights /

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