Office sharing giant WeWork has launched WeMrkt in New York City, which is a reinvention of the company's Honesty Market. The first of the new stores is located at the 205 Hudson WeWork location in Lower Manhattan, with plans to expand to other locations in New York and then nationally soon after.
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The shop offers a small but curated array of items, including snacks, office supplies and WeWork-branded apparel. Honesty Market is WeWork’s snack and beverage self-serve kiosk, which is much more limited by comparison.
The stores will also carry products created by select WeWork members.
In April, 20 WeWork member companies presented their products to a panel of judges. The panel selected winners based on "creativity, capability and impact," according to the company. The 10 winners of that selection process can sell their products at the new WeMrkt.
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Products from the winning member companies are:
Icelandic Provisions, an Iceland-inspired dairy product similar to yogurt.
Barnana, chewy banana bites.
Misfit Juicery, a fruit and veggie juice distributed throughout Washington, D.C., and New York.
Rise Brewing Co., a cold-brew coffee.
Puku, a portable charger.
Splendid Spoon, a dietary and meal-prep provider.
Honeydrop Lemonade, gluten and GMO-free lemonade maker.
Hydrant, a drink filled with electrolytes to combat dehydration.
Lebby Snacks, an assortment of vegan, gluten-free snacks.
Super Coffee, organic Colombian coffee.
"WeWork will help our members to reach new audiences and customers," WeWork Brand Officer Julie Rice said in a statement. "As brick-and-mortar retail is disappearing, our WeMrkts will offer our members an entirely unique channel of distribution."
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As new shops open up, member companies selected this time and in the future will have a built-in customer base among people working at WeWork locations, the company said. Currently, WeWork has a network of 260 facilities worldwide.
WeMrkt isn't the company's first foray into retail. Besides Honesty Market, the company, along with private equity firm Rhone Group, acquired the Lord & Taylor building in New York late last year from Hudson’s Bay Co. with plans to convert the 650K SF building to its HQ.
The Lord & Taylor space will be renovated and condensed to about 150K SF on the first three floors, while WeWork will occupy 500K SF on the top eight floors.
