New Stand, the Boutique Convenience Store Popping Up Across the U.S., Wants to Improve Your Day

As a self-described half-store/half-blog, New Stand is trying to improve how you travel one purchase or article at a time. After launching two years ago and beginning 2017 with just three locations in New York's busy subway transit hubs like Columbus Circle and Union Square, New Stand will end the year with 25 locations across the United States including LAX and Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. With bright lights, trendy items and helpful employees, New Stand's founders are trying to connect young consumers with a better way to travel. "We're a day improvement company," said co-founder and CEO Andrew Deitchman. "We do spend time with people by selling them things they need, but we also provide great content and playlists for them within our app." With each purchase made or article read, New Stand customers earn redeemable points that can be used for discounts on other products. An in-App wallet allows for seamless transactions. "New Stand connects the physical and the digital worlds," Deitchman boasts. Deitchman and fellow co-founder Lex Kendall want New Stand locations to be "heroic" for their customers—in major subway stations, New York ferries and airports across the country, travelers who need everything from inflatable unicorn horns to green juices can easily access the store's stock. Unlike another retail startup that debuted this year, Bodega, New Stand isn't trying to put its competition out of business. [kickout id="1"] "Other companies like Hudson News or Wawa are also out there to be helpful for people," said Deitchman. "What we're trying to do is change the idea of routines and how we can fit into your everyday life." Unlike Hudson News, which has 970 locations worldwide, mostly in airports, or Wawa with its 720 locations which cater to car and truck drivers, New Stand doesn't sell many newspapers or magazines. Instead, they restock their app with articles and music for digital first travelers. The app is free, so is membership. "Half of our revenue comes from our members," said Kendall, co-founder and COO. The company says it has nearly 30,000 in New York alone. "That's way beyond what we thought we'd see by this point. We're a unique type of company who can work with brands and partners to leverage the kinds of data we're collecting, purchase history combined with content consumption, and people have been interested." [kickout id="2"] With a partnership with the Instagrammable and Snapchatable 29Rooms exhibit from Refinery29, to launching a new line of products from makeup company Urban Decay, New Stand has been able to present itself as a commerce-filled event space. "People walk by us and stop and stare before they end up coming in," said Kendall. "Our stores are modular, magnetic and beautiful. Our staff is trained to be helpful and help customers form a relationship with us." Deitchman and Kendall are already looking beyond the subway station and airport to potentially hotels in the future, "As we grow and scale, our point-of-view as a company will only prove to be more useful," said Kendall.