Merchandising

Joseph Bona
President, Retail Division
CBX
New York City

New York native Joseph Bona studied architecture at Fullerton (Calif.) College and later took advanced classes in classical architecture at New York City’s National Academy of Design. Out of school he landed at Hickory Farms as a retail planner and project manager and has remained in retail design ever since.

Call them automated retail stores or product dispensing centers, but please don’t call them vending machines. This latest generation of self-contained selling is popping up all over the retail landscape, stationed inside stores to vend high-ticket, security-intensive items like personal electronics or occupying off-site locations to extend branding and take advantage of the reduced labor costs, a small real estate footprint and 24/7 operating capability.

 
 
 
 
 
Not very long ago, tattoos were most often associated with bikers and outlaws. Nowadays, things couldn’t be more different: athletes, soccer moms and white-collar professionals are sporting “tats.”

According to reports by the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of those ages 18 to 25 — and 40 percent of 26- to 40-year-olds — have at least one tattoo. Such widespread acceptance has driven one tattoo company to ink deals for space in shopping malls.

 
 
There are never enough pages in STORES to tell every compelling retail story. Trust me, we try, but part of what makes this industry so incredible is that it’s always morphing in some unexpected way.

I learned about Space 15 Twenty while we were knee deep in development of the package of stories that comprise this month’s cover section. Part shopping mall, part event space, part community gathering spot and part gallery, Space 15 Twenty is a new retail experiment Urban Outfitters created in Los Angeles.