It feels fair to say that Texans love shopping. Texans also often encourage innovation. One man and his store are combing both of those things.
Matt Alexander grew up outside London with a mother originally from Galveston, Texas. He came to the states for college at SMU and for his budding business.
He's a co-founder of Neighborhood Goods in Plano's Legacy West, which may be a glimpse into the future of retail. Plano is home to the first Neighborhood Goods store.
"For me, a lot of it is focusing on a general feeling and creating something memorable," Alexander said of his latest venture.
The modern space features pop-ups for brands you know and new ones that started online but are now available to shop in person.
It is a curated, constantly changing collection of unique products and hot items. So those Rothy's you saw an ad for on Instagram? At Neighborhood Goods, you can try them before you buy.
That approach works with shoppers like Alisha Nowlin.
"Clean perfumes by Skylar, I love those," she told us. "But I've only ever ordered online, this way I can actually see and smell and try it on and…buy!"
That opportunity, plus the coffee bar and restaurant Prim and Proper inside the store, are boons for customers. But what about the brands? Neighborhood Goods creates opportunities for them, too.
Cameras at the front doors and in the ceilings above various displays gather generic data on the sex and age of customers and give these mostly digital companies a chance to see how we interact with their stuff in real life. That's as much an experience for them as it's an experience for you.
"We want people to be able to come in and spend a lot of time here, whether it's for food, events or just really enjoying sort of perusing different products," Alexander said.
Alexander says they plan to open a Neighborhood Goods store in New York this year and expand to several more stores in 2020.
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