LiveLaunch helps online brands transition offline with opening of new Fulton Market retail hub

LiveLaunch has opened a 7,100-square-foot retail space in Chicago’s Fulton Market, giving online-only and direct-to-consumer brands a way to meet shoppers in person without a long-term lease. The facility at 810 W. Washington Blvd. contains 11 modular storefronts, each sized at about 200 to 300 square feet, according to a press release by Business Wire.

Subscribe to Chicago Star’s Weekly City Buzz Newsletter

LiveLaunch founder AJ Weinberg said the company aims to remove the cost barriers that often keep digital brands out of physical retail. “There are so many incredible brands out there that people have never had the chance to hold, try on, or discover in-person due to the high costs of traditional retail,” Weinberg said in a statement reported by Business Wire.

According to the Chicago Business Journal, LiveLaunch was represented by Goldstreet Partners when acquiring the Fulton Market location.

Brands, leases and location

The announcement confirmed that the opening lineup includes the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, Sound Off, Surreal Cycling, Lux & Nyx, Michael Drummond, Rob Bacon, Betshazzar, and INSPR. Loop Coffee also operates inside the space, which sits one block from Randolph Street’s Restaurant Row and near a corridor the company said draws an estimated 5 million visitors a year, according to the press release.

Read more on Chicago Star

• Meta, Zuckerberg works on image problem—donates 130K Ray-Ban AI glasses to blind veterans 

• Fox makes its biggest streaming bet in a $22B deal to buy Roku

• Nvidia breaks into healthcare industry, announces new AI model in partnership with Abridge

• Lake Geneva waterfront estate tops active listings, splashes into market at nearly $11M

• White House UFC fight a huge success, despite planned attack thwarted by FBI officials

• Ex-Chicago Bulls GM Marc Eversley to sell $2.3M Lakeview home after being fired in April

• Top June concerts in Chicago: Ed Sheeran, DJ Marshmello, Morgan Wallen & Lionel Richie

Leases run from one to three months, and LiveLaunch said pricing varies by storefront and term. The company said the model is meant to work more like a paid social campaign than a traditional lease, with a defined budget, a defined window, and measurable results, Business Wire confirmed.

Customers can scan a QR code in each storefront and buy through the brand’s own website. LiveLaunch said that the setup avoids point-of-sale systems, backstock inventory, and build-out costs while keeping the brand’s direct relationship with shoppers intact.