The next chapter of the Battle of New York has started, but this one’s not on ice. Although both the Islanders and the Rangers have won four Stanley Cups each, the Islanders might have given Rangers fans a reason to be jealous with its new team store.

The Isle Lab at UBS Arena was launched at the end of the last NHL season for the team’s 50th anniversary, but expanded this year. Unlike most team stores, Isles Lab bridges the worlds of sports, fashion, and technology, curator and consultant Paul Price told Retail Brew. Isles Lab is a level up from the typical warehouse-like team stores, with its wood-paneled interior decorated with vintage rugs, sports equipment, and antique furniture sourced from New York clubs and libraries. But operationally, the store has all the bells and whistles found in upscale brick-and-mortar stores of the modern era.

Price said the Isles Lab is designed to address the gap between cookie-cutter team stores and the increasingly popular streetwear, pop culture, custom design, and overall luxury space that consumers are now craving more than ever.

“When you go into the store, not only you’re getting what you would expect to see…but you also have this element of fashion that is quite remarkable and weaving that in and changing that every single game,” Price said. “Every time you go into the store, you’ll have a new experience.”

The puck stops here: Islanders co-owner Scott Malkin recruited Price to create Isles Lab and lean on his past experience as the head of menswear design at Burberry and Banana Republic to create a retail experience that could serve as a focal point for fans during intermissions.

Keep reading here.—KM

LA-based Spatial Labs is a technology infrastructure company developing hardware and software products for Web3 and the metaverse. In late January, it announced a $10 million seed round led by Blockchain Capital and including Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners.

Now, we know what you’re probably thinking: Fundraising, for a Web3 company, in this economy???

But Spatial Labs is a little different from the crypto-centric companies you’re probably envisioning. For one thing, it takes a physical approach to Web3, focusing on using technology to enhance everyday items and activities. For another, its founder, Iddris Sandu, is just 25, and is certainly more keyed into fashion and culture trends than the average crypto mogul. And it doesn’t hurt that Sandu has invented a 13mm microchip that, when embedded into clothing, he says allows brands and consumers to enter the metaverse.

Hardware for the metaverse

Born in Ghana and raised in California, Sandu founded Spatial Labs in 2019, and in 2022 revealed the LNQ One Chip (pronounced “link”), which holds a “digital passport” for the item in which its embedded, and which Sandu describes as “the wearable internet.” Here’s how it works:

• A chip is embedded into an item of clothing, and at the time of purchase, a consumer can scan the chip with a smartphone to activate it.
• Each chip is connected to an NFT, which can store a wide variety of information about the physical product, such as its makeup and origin. Brands embedding chips into their products can add content or update data about that product even after purchase.
• This opens up new opportunities for brands to communicate directly with consumers.

Keep reading here.—MA

Ex-Amazon and Glossier exec Melissa Eamer, founder and current CEO of healthcare company Modern Age, sat down with Healthcare Brew’s Amanda Eisenberg to discuss all things aging and the company’s digital-first approach to care. Here’s an excerpt:

This is the Amazonian in me. There’s a viable virtual path, and there are many consumers out there who want that convenience and want that connection through a computer versus in person. Not all of our treatments, obviously, [can be done online]. A lot of our early customers are seeing the clinic and walking in, so they’re becoming aware of us through the physical spaces. There’s also something about credibility and trust, seeing doctors in real life. There are some customers who want to transact with us digitally. Some will only want to be in person, but we’re seeing a good number of people who want to be both.

Read the whole interview here on Healthcare Brew.

Today’s top retail reads.

Royal treatment: The story behind the disco-ball cowboy hat Beyoncé wears in her “Renaissance” tour announcement: It was made by an Etsy merchant working in her parents’ basement, and sold for $250. (Los Angeles Times)

Hot topic: A growing number of women celebrities are speaking out about the side effects of aging (like heat flashes and night sweats). With the “normalization” of menopause has come a new retail category that some brands are already cashing in on. But activists worry that alongside meaningful products could come shaming and extortion. (Financial Times)

Money talks: The fundraising environment for retail brands is shifting, but it may be for the better, despite a tough economic climate. “The idea of raising not as much money, getting to profitability, and kind of controlling your own destiny is definitely what we’re telling our companies at this point,” Andrea Hippeau, partner at VC firm Lerer Hippeau, said. (Retail Dive)

The DTC VIP: Mobile shopping apps drive 7x higher conversions than mobile web. So apps aren’t just “nice to haves”—they’re game changers. Snag NewStore’s consumer app ebook for all the ins and outs.*

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What happened in the world of retail this week in…1894 and beyond? Retail Brew takes you way, way, way back.

• On February 6, 1985, mineral company Perrier introduced “Perrier With a Twist” citrus-flavored beverages. The launch marked the brand’s first new product in over 100 years.
• On February 8, 1894, the Lancaster Caramel Company was incorporated, and the Hershey Chocolate Company was listed as a subsidiary.
• On February 11, 2010, Alexander McQueen died. He was the head designer of Givenchy, and eventually launched his own brand. He was named British Designer of the Year in 1996, 1997, and 2001, and was declared International Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2003. His contributions to the world of fashion were celebrated in a 2011 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Playboy’s Valentine’s Day lingerie collection and Gen Z
• Home decor company Hopson Grace wants to go national
• The perils of reformulating for beauty brands