Neighborhood Goods, a retailer that positions itself as the modern reinvention of the traditional department store, will open a second location in New York City in 2019. The expansion will be fueled by an $8.8 million funding round led by Global Founders Capital, which brings the retailer’s total amount raised to $14.5 million.
The Neighborhood Goods concept gathers a collection of independent retailers under a single roof, where they operate as part of a changing roster of pop-up shops. The retailer’s inaugural space in Plano, Texas, also features a restaurant, events and online stories about local retailers and entrepreneurs.
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“The core principle that we settled on was a focus on creating a more dignified, communal, sociable, friendly and approachable concept in the retail space,” said Neighborhood Goods Co-Founder and CEO Matt Alexander in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “The goal is to shed some of that traditional pretentiousness that you can often see from the higher end of retail — and also some of the elements of self-consciousness and confusion that come from some retail experiences, where you feel like the entirety of the experience is built around trying to extract dollars from your wallet in a very overt way.”
Neighborhood Goods has grown to house multiple new brands since its launch in November 2018, including Hers, A. N. Other, Hook + Albert and Le Specs. The company plans to continue adding new partners in the coming months.
The new funding round included participation from prior lead investor Forerunner Ventures, as well as Maveron, NextGen Venture Partners, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Ground Up Ventures, Capital Factory and Michael Dubin, CEO of Dollar Shave Club.