b8ta
b8ta was founded in 2015 as a software powered retail store. Offering “retail as a service” to innovative and emerging brands, and providing consumer engagement data for their products. For a monthly subscription fee, products are featured unboxed and connected for customers to experience. An adjacent LED tablet displays product features and details, and an expert staff provides demos when prompted.
An array of specially configured RetailNext cameras provides traffic and dwell data in real time to the brand partners through their personalized dashboard. Now brands have instant real engagement data, by market, for their new products.
b8ta manages inventory and transactions, with 100% of sales passed on to the brand.
Over 4 years I launched and lead over 100 locations, including 24 branded stores, and 75+ store-in-store concepts. We provided valuable sales insights and revenue to emerging brands around the world.
Formats:
Flagships, Store In Store, and Common Areas
-
![b8ta Univerity Village]()
Flagships
I worked with Gensler on this original design concept and they were the AOR for the highest profile locations. As we scaled I found efficiencies in partnering with smaller firms. Notable locations include Chase Arena, Hudson Yard, Hayes Valley, and University Ave. The Santa Monica location was awarded “Store of the Year” and “Best use of technology” in 2018.
1500 to 4000 sf
Lifestyle centers and High Street
$250-$350/sf Build Outs
Construction partners include Trainor, Alta, and Skyline Construction
Fixtures by Fleetwood and Milford
Technology by Mint Retail and RetailNext
-
![Store In Store - Lowes]()
Store in Store
In 2016 we established a partnership with Lowe’s Hardware to help grow their connected home category of products. I worked with Niven, a Lowe’s approved vendor to recreate our Flagship experience and technology with value engineered casework and fixtures that worked with existing Lowe’s Standards. After a 3 store test we deployed a small team to launch 70 locations within 3 weeks.
250 to 400 sf
$30-50/sf Build Outs
Fixtures by Niven
Store Staffing by Marketsource
Technology by RetailNext
-
![b8ta Brookfield Place]()
Common Areas
To validate market entry for our Flagships, I developed an asset light common area experience lifestyle centers. These 200sf units could be shopped on interior and exterior, maximizing a footprint reserved for standard “kiosks” Using the same “retail as a service” platform and technology we could feature up to 30 products in a cost efficient environment. Notable locations include Brookfield Place NYC, Oak Brook, and Tysons Corner Center.
250-500 sf
$40-$50/sf Build Outs
Fixtures by Niven and Milford
Technology by RetailNext
