COS Comes to SoHo

If you’re one of those New Yorkers who travels abroad to get your COS clothing fix, then you’re now in luck. COS has opened a New York flagship in Soho at 129 Spring Street (and one in Beverly Hills as well). COS is a subsidiary of the Scandinavian retailer H&M.

NYPost sat down with Martin Andersson, the head of men’s design, to ask him a few questions. He explained that the new COS in SoHo is housed in a basement with an actual water well.  When asked about his approach to the collection each season, he said that “function is so important.”

And now, you can have it all in SoHo.

 

 

Lululemon Comes to SoHo

Picture by  m01229 with Creative Commons 2.0 license
Picture by m01229
with Creative Commons 2.0 license

If you love sportswear, you’ll love that Lululemon is coming. This high end sportswear brand is opening its first menswear store in SoHo. The store, at 127 Prince Street is hoping to get into the men’s fitness market with yoga wear, cross training apparel and running items.

As Felix Del Toro, the Senior Vice President and Head for Men’s Design for Lululemon told the Daily News, “SoHo offers a very specific shopping experience tailored to men’s activities. It’s inspiring to see the fitness scene grow and evolve in New York.”

He continued, “We’re thrilled to open our first men’s standalone and think that it’s the perfect place for this journey to begin.”

Pop Into the Boohoo Pop-Up Shop

boohoo

If you’re in the neighborhood, check out the Boohoo.com pop-up shop that just opened at 462 West Broadway in SoHo. It includes two floors of men’s and women’s apparel and accessories straight from the website. Most items are priced from $20 to $60. Now Boohoo carries over 8000 items on its site at any one time – and the store only has a fraction of this selection. But it’s still nice to see what you might want to buy.

Boohoo only launched a US version of its website last year and it’s now the fourth largest market after the UK, Australia and Europe. As Carol Kane, joint chief executive of Boohoo said, “A large part of our U.S. strategy is to increase brand awareness and so the timing was right for a marketing activation that would help us do this.”

In order to bring in shoppers, Boohoo plans to have many music events and blogger meet-and-greets, so make sure to check back at their website. The store is open from 11-7 seven days a week until November 14th.

Birchbox Offers Great Beauty

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Birchbox, a beauty sample delivery service, has had an online business model only up until now. Now, they are opening an actual storefront in SoHo. Co-founders Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna are confident that the store, which will have full and sample-size beauty products, will be a success.

As Beauchamp said, “We set it up like an Internet store.” The store has 4200 square feet and has more than 250 beauty brands and lifestyle goods.

Creatively set up like an online store, customers shop by category rather than brand. So they shop for lip products, hair products, etc. and can test things out at the “Try Bar.” As a cute addition, they have a “BYOB” section, or “Build Your Own Birchbox” where customers can select five sample items for $15.

They will also have a makeup, hair and nails studio downstairs where women can come for a quick braid or a polish change.

Beauchamp and Barna are no fly-by-night business women. They met at Harvard Business School and their company is rumored to be worth about $500 million.

As Beauchamp said, “We’re really excited. This is the best way to discover beauty.”

Paintbox Offers It All For Manicures

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Paintbox is the place to go in SoHo for the ultimate manicure. The salon is owned by Eleanor Langston, a former beauty editor for Cosmopolitan, Self and Fitness. Now, they don’t accept special nail requests and they don’t do pedicures. But you won’t find a more luxurious place at the moment for a manicure in SoHo.

Puppy Prom Ready to Go

People either have much too much time on their hands, or they need to find a new hobby. On June 22 you, too, can be part of the Puppy Prom happening at The Lofts. This is at 177 Prince Street and tickets are $40. Now, what’s a Puppy Prom, you might ask?

This is an event where 100 dogs get dolled up in the hopes of being named King and Queen. And yes, people design gowns and tuxedos for the dogs, as Roberto Negrin, the founder of Hec-Lin Couture for Dogs explains, “They get hair extensions, paint the toenails, even put on false eyelashes.”

Last year, the event was held at a car dealership. This year, they are adding to the excitement by placing it at The Lofts at Prince. People will be selling treats and dog products. There will also be a raffle and prizes for the best dressed dogs and the best look-alikes.

Close to 100 people have already RSVP’d that they are coming with their dogs.

Hi-Tech Coming to SoHo

Another hi-tech company is opening a branch in SoHo at 375 W. Broadway. Square, which makes devices that allow businesses to accept credit card payments, will now be able to expand to have 250 employees.

As Demetrios Marantis, Square’s head of international government, regulatory and policy work said, “New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, technology, and art — something we do every day at Square as we help local sellers grow their business with simple and beautiful tools.”

Square is based in San Francisco and also has offices in Atlanta, Tokyo and Kitchener-Waterloo.

It might be interesting for other start-ups to know that New York State’s Governor Andrew Cuomo is going out of his way to court hi-tech companies and start-ups. The Governor has been involved in Square’s entry into its East Coast headquarters, offering Square $5 million in tax credits to help facilitate its New York expansion. Similar tax credits are available for other start-ups, as indicated by the spokesperson for Governor Cuomo’s office.

Cookies and Milk Coming to SoHo

by dominiqueansel via Instagram
by dominiqueansel via Instagram

Now the question no one is answering is how the cookie will keep its form when filled with milk. Perhaps Dominique Ansel will be able to answer that, as he debuts his chocolate chip cookie “shot” glasses filled with organic milk. Starting this week on Friday at 3pm, the Spring St. bakery will start selling this novelty item.

The milk and cookie shots will be sold seven days a week and the cookies will be made fresh every afternoon. The cookies will be filled with Swede Farm milk infused with vanilla beans for 24 hours.

Each of the cookies will cost $3 and there will be a take-away eight-pack that will cost $25. There will be 200 milk and cookie shots this Friday and customers will be allowed to order two each.

You just have to drink the milk quickly before the cookie dissolves!

Enjoy the Soho Strength Lab

trainingsNow you can get fit and eat right…all under one roof. New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira has teamed up with Marcus Antebi, the founder and ECO of Juice Press, to create Soho Strength Lab.

As Teixeira said of Antebi, “When you can put unprocessed, raw green juice into your body there’s so many great benefits as a person and as an athlete.”

Now, after working out at the Strength Lab, gym-goers can replenish their bodies with fresh-pressed juices. The lab is also offering smoothies, raw food, salads and sandwiches. All of the food is vegan, organic and kosher.

As Teixeira said, “When I was 25, I could go out lift like an animal, go out and play a full game, and then eat whatever I wanted afterwards and not feel any of the effects. I’d sleep fine and have plenty of energy for the next day.As I get older, nutrition has become so much more important. Making good decisions are very important to me and Juice Press helps with those decisions.”

The plan is to launch five of these Juice Press stores in the next six months. Look for the locations on Greenwich Street and West 55th Street.

New Nail Salon: Tenoverten

tenovertenIf you’re looking for a place to be pampered in SoHo, nothing beats the new Tenoverten. This boutique salon already has two locations in Manhattan, and the SoHo location now creates a third. The store bills itself as a “beautiful apartment” rather than a salon, inviting customers to come and experience the feeling of a home away from home.  The store has raw wood floors, limestone slab tables, a minimalistic décor and lovely outdoor space in the warm weather.

They have manicures, pedicures, waxing and eye care and advertise that they do parties and home visits as well. Welcome to the neighborhood Tenoverten! They are located at 132 W. Houston Street for anyone getting ready to pop over.