Some people are afraid that online shopping will lead to the death of brick and mortar retail (and a spate of empty storefronts on our streets.) But Storenvy, the online marketplace that lets independent merchants sell their wares in their own digital storefronts, is one of a number of web companies that’s making a reverse commute of sorts — bringing their web businesses into meatspace.
Storenvy opened its pop-up shop in San Francisco with the intention that it would be a temporary 30-day thing. Four months later, it’s become a pretty popular destination, and the company’s CEO Jon Crawford now says that he is looking at opening more brick and mortar locations elsewhere in the U.S. in the months ahead. In a way, the pop-up store is an extension of the online experience — transactions are still done through the web, not with a traditional register, and each vendor is completely in control of his or her own spot.
It’s a cool thing to see in person, so we brought along the TechCrunch TV cameras to get a look at how Storenvy has translated its online vibe into the real world and talk to Crawford a bit about the company’s strategy. Check it all out in the video above.