Appear Here, an online marketplace for short-term retail space, is spreading its wings in the direction of the US.
Founded in London in 2013, the firm has so far raised $9.4 million from investors including Balderton Capital, Forward Partners and MMC Ventures, and is all set to open an office in New York first.
Officially launching today, Appear Here has signed exclusive deals to list pop-up stores for The Blackstone Group, also working with other well-known landlords like Thor Equities and Simon Property Group. A Brookfield spokesperson was able to confirm that the company signed an agreement to bring pop-up stores to Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan.
Appear Here was founded by Ross Bailey, and works on the premise of putting retail landlords in touch with business owners to facilitate the rental of space. It, therefore, functions like an Airbnb for retail space. Landlords or tenants can list space for short-term use and get matched with customers. The company makes money by charging between 10 and 30 percent of the rent as a fee, according to Bailey. It vets and photographs every space.
Current listings include an 8,000-square foot storefront at Jeff Sutton and Aurora Capital’s 511 Fifth Avenue charging $7,500 per day, a 50,000-square-foot warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard asking $12,000 per day and a 5,000-square-foot store in the Meatpacking District, priced at $15,000 per day.
Bailey commented on the firm’s expansion plans:
Appear Here’s mission since day one has been to create a world where anyone with an idea can find space to make it happen. So our US expansion is an exciting milestone for the company. New York is one of the most coveted retail destinations in the world and it’s filled with some of the best brands, creatives and designers.
The company introduces speed, excellent service and energy to New York’s real-estate industry, one that needs rejuvenating. Since the entire operations is managed online, bookings are possible in record time; the industry average is 3 to 6 months, while Appear Here books space in under 3 to 6 days, and 50% of March bookings were done in an unprecedented 48 hours. According to the official press release, Jen Rubio, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Away said:
Ross and his team are disrupting the fundamentals of retail and providing brands like us with the tools we need to test new markets and ideas.
They aim to bring their ideas to life, and in doing so, make New York “a more exciting city for people to discover.” The New York arm currently has six people on its payroll. The firm also has offices in France.
