Need to Know
14 : 02 : 19

Mexico – The Singular Residence Hotel is a residential project that fuses the concept of a condo and a hotel.

The new development, in Playa del Carmen, comprises 62 condos designed to meet the needs of short-term holiday rentals. Described as ‘your residence and hotel business, all in one’, the model allows investors to buy a property as a holiday home, and rent it out as a luxury hotel suite when not in use.

Hotel management, services and amenities are all overseen by Singular, including room service, a concierge and housekeeping. Units are also offered with a lock-off option, where home-owners can split their apartment in two so that each part can be rented or used separately. In this way, Singular is re-imagining the timeshare as a new revenue stream for investors.

The line between home and hospitality continues to blur. Airbnb recently announced it would be using insights gathered from its short-term rentals to design and build houses. For more, read our Airbnb Brand Innovation Debrief.

New York – The luxury house has opened Atelier Beauté Chanel, a permanent space that encourages customers to play rather than shop.

Upon entering, customers are given their own Chanel-branded locker to store away their personal items, freeing them up for a highly tactile in-store experience. They are asked to create an online account in order to like, save and buy products they discover.

The store is divided into three categories, Cleanse, Care and Enhance. Visitors can find a make-up room, which offers mini samples for more hygienic testing, a no-spray perfume bar where scented porcelain testers are labelled with numbers rather than scent names, and a content creation room for Instagram opportunities. Those who wish to learn new skills can also get walk-in appointments with skincare and cosmetics professionals.

Although beauty brands like Glossier have created sensory playgrounds to inspire product discovery in the retail space, until now luxury brands have been slow to target Generation Z shoppers and embrace this shift.

New York – In March, the luxury retailer is launching a dedicated cannabis department in its Beverly Hills flagship store.

Called The High End, the 300-square-feet shop-in-shop concept will sell upscale cannabis accessories and paraphernalia, such as glass pipes, vape pens and horn lighters, as well as wellness and beauty products containing CBD. Although no cannabis will be dispensed on-site, Barneys is working with upscale cannabis company Beboe to introduce customers to the brand’s products, which can be purchased through a white glove delivery service.

‘Barneys New York has always been at the forefront of shifts in culture and lifestyle, and cannabis is no exception,’ said Barneys CEO and president Daniella Vitale. ‘Many of our customers have made cannabis a part of their lifestyle, and The High End caters for their needs with extraordinary products and service they experience in every facet of Barneys New York.’

Discover how beauty and wellness brands are encouraging a new aesthetic around marijuana consumption in our Listicle.

Just 55% of Generation Z and 67% of Millennials in the US say they have a primary care physician, compared with 84% of Baby Boomers, according to the results of a new Accenture survey. As a result, Millennial and Generation Z consumers in the US are embracing non-traditional care models, such as retail clinics, and virtual and digital health services.

The survey found that 29% of respondents have used some form of virtual care, while 47% have used a walk-in or retail clinic, which are often located in pharmacies and supermarkets. Half (51%) also say they use a wearable or mobile app to manage their lifestyle and healthcare conditions. We explore the evolution of healthcare in our Certified Wellness macrotrend.