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Appear Here launches an all-in-one retail service

Additions, Appear Here x Found, London

London – Pop-up marketplace, Appear Here is expanding its offering with a service dedicated to short-term retail.

The company, which initially offered easy access to renting temporary real estate, has recently launched Additions, a new service which makes it easier for retailers and brands to open pop-up stores. As a result of a collaboration with architecture firm, Found Associates, the service will offer a range of furniture designed specifically for short-term rentals. The collection features six core pieces which act as the foundation to a store – stackable shelves, hanging rails, cash desks, display plinths, mirrors and fitting rooms.

In addition, retailers will have access to staff members through a partnership with GIG and maintenance workers offered by Airtasker.

The service is representative of a new wave of companies that are taking their retail models and selling them to smaller retailers. For more, read our Storefront Salvation macro trend here.

Adriaen Block launches with a CBD-infused menu

Adriaen Block, New York. Photography by Lily Brown

Adriaen Block, New York, photography by Lily Brown

New York – Adriaen Block is a new bar that offers non-alcoholic and low alcohol cocktails infused with the non-psychoactive cannabis derivative, cannabidiol (CBD).

The bar’s drinks menu is split between zero-proof cocktails that are laced with CBD but are alcohol-free, and those that have a low ABV, using ingredients such as sherry and Aperol. Each drink is priced at £11.80 ($15, €13.30) and the names reference cannabis culture in a playful way. Bakin & Eggs is served with a garnish of crispy bacon, Mellow Berry mixes dry oloroso sherry with cocchi americano and house blackberry shrub, while Stoney Negroni combines cocchi americano with tio pepe dry sherry, floc de gascogne and angostura bitters.

‘I’ve always worked in this industry, and one of the coolest things I was able to master were doing different kinds of infusions’, says founder ZsoltCsonka. ‘I thought it would be a very interesting concept to do a different kind, happy infusions with low-alcohol liquors. For both the flavour profile and the relaxing state of mind.’

With more and more people practicing abstinence from alcohol, cannabis and its derivatives are becoming more popular.

Uber Eats launches variable delivery pricing

US – The food delivery platform has ditched its flat delivery rate and adjusted its pricing based on distance.

Initially customers could receive meals from any restaurant for a fixed fee of £3.92 ($4.99, €4.41). The new fees however, will range from £1.57 ($2, €1.77) to £6.29 ($8,€7.07) depending on the customers distance to the restaurant. A sliding ‘Maximum Booking Fee’ feature will also be added to allow customers to filter how much they wish to pay for the service.

Uber Eats was deemed more expensive than close competitors, Seamless and Grubhub – both of which allow the restaurants to determine delivery fees. As it becomes easier for consumers to shop around for the best prices, brands and services are having to rethink their pricing strategies in order to differentiate from their competitors. For more, read our Pricing Strategies market.

Uber Eats

Sonos redesigns Nasdaq’s market bell

Sonos redesigns the Nasdaq Bell, US

US – Specialist sound designers from SONOS have worked with Nasdaq to redesign the sound of the classic market bell rung at the start and end of stock trading sessions.

Every day, the American stock exchange rings the opening and closing bells to mark the beginning and end of each trading session. Since 2000, the sound of the bell has remained unchanged. The new bell, created from layers of digital sound, will celebrate launch of SONOS going public, in which all shares will be listed in an open market on Nasdaq.

The work comes from months of audio experimentation with hundreds of recordings of different audio waves. The team played with unusual tools and objects – including glasses, chains, mallets, coins, screwdrivers, cutlery and brushes – to recreate different elements of the bell vibrations. The final recording features these instruments clanging, brushing and clashing against a Tibetan bowl at different strengths and paces.

The new sound, which will be a permanent feature of Nasdaq, showcases how financial companies are moving away from traditional modes of expression. For more on the changing aesthetic of FinTech, see our Fluid Capital design direction.

Stat: The influencer marketing industry is booming

New figures from Buzzoole indicate the growth of the influencer marketing industry within the last year. On a global scale, nearly 600 thousand creators produced an overall engagement of almost a billion interactions (988m). The report found that fashion (33%), beauty (13%) and food & drinks (13%) brands were the most mentioned, accounting for almost 60% of global sponsored content.

While audiences are becoming wiser to paid product placements, with almost half of British consumers stating they would avoid clicking on an sponsored link, this attitude appears to not affect influencer’s content choices as the report suggests they’re still keen to acquire in these opportunities.

Thought-starter: How fashion is giving female inmates a future

Fashion brand Carcel works with female prisoners to produce premium clothing. Founder Veronica D’Souza and creative director Louise van Hauen talk about transforming the lives of women and inspiring the global fashion industry.

‘I was living and working in Nairobi with women and girls on low incomes, and through this work began to wonder why so many African women were in prison.I decided to call a prison outside of the city to ask about visiting, and to my surprise they said yes. On arriving, I learned that poverty was the main cause’, says D’Souza.

‘But during this visit I also discovered that the women inmates spend about eight hours a day doing hand-crafted work. It was vital to them to help combat depression, so I started thinking about how we could transform this lost time for these women.’

Carcel now works with female inmates in Peru to create high-end clothing. They offer education and training to the women as well as wages that are in line with UN recommendations. For the duo, it is about creating desirable goods with a conscious supply chain.

‘We aim to combine sustainability with desirable fashion by creating high-end products that break the cycle of poverty and rethink the fashion supply chain,’ says van Hauen.

For more, read the full interview here.