Bulletin Flagship Store | Alda Ly Architecture & Design

In just her first year of practice, New York–based architect Alda Ly has been taking on the design problems for which others wait their whole careers, most notably creating the next generation of collaborative workspaces for The Wing. Ly’s latest project represents another groundbreaking task: to imagine a physical marketplace for the world of e-commerce, for the Y combinator–backed startup Bulletin. This 1,400-square-foot flagship opened in early August in Manhattan’s Union Square neighborhood.

Applying an Airbnb business model to retail space, Bulletin leases prestige brick-and-mortar locations, then sublets fractional spaces to any of its 150 members for terms as short as one week. Member companies are female-led online brands, and 10 percent of all of Bulletin’s proceeds go to Planned Parenthood of New York City; the business model not only minimizes the costs of physical retailing for members, but also organizes these direct-to-consumer companies into a nexus of millennial-age feminism. Impressed by the women-only coworking offices of The Wing, Bulletin cofounders Alana Branston and Ali Kriegsman tapped Alda Ly Architecture & Design to design its third New York store and first-ever flagship in early 2018, alongside the all-female design consultancy Built Interest and visual merchandising consultant Avideh Yamotahari.

Ly gave dimension to the narrow rectangular floor plan, by dividing it into discrete zones where almost every merchandising fixture doubles as seating for member events. Shoppers arrive at an open area where a curving, upholstered fixture is mounted behind the storefront window; this zone transforms into a small amphitheater-like space. Beyond the entry, flexible shelving featuring 3form partitions and hidden benches on casters line the perimeter, facing one another across a central aisle of lacquered-MDF tables. Sleek integrated shelving for handbags, cashwrap and dressing rooms, and a Planned Parenthood donation station populate the rear of the store.

While Ly deployed Bulletin’s pink-and-yellow color scheme with chrome accents to grab the attention of passers-by, her space plan invites them to explore and linger over the products for sale. The variety of display fixtures, as well as their modular quality, accommodate Bulletin’s high turnover of sublets and products. Single-purpose lounge seating encourages shoppers to relax and foster new social connections even in the absence of events.

At Ly’s recommendation, Bulletin hired the woman-owned contracting firm Aerial Design & Build to execute the design on an accelerated schedule. The new store can accommodate sublets from 60 online brands, and the company’s membership waitlist now numbers almost 2,000 brands. Bulletin will open another New York store by the end of this year, and it will activate three new cities in 2019 with the completion of Series A financing.