Shops-in-Shops: Staples, Urban Outfitters

These two retailers recently unveiled new shop-in-shop initiatives:

A rendering of a Stanton Optical shop in a Staples store. Image: Courtesy of Stanton Optical/Staples

Staples (Framingham, Mass.), which will soon launch Stanton Optical (Delray Beach, Fla.) shops in some of its stores. The first locations, offering eyecare and eyewear, are slated to open this fall at Staples stores in Pennsylvania. (The retailer didn’t release specifics on which stores will get the shops.) Those spaces will serve as test sites for the undertaking, which Staples said in a news release is designed to reinforce its position “as a destination for both essential products and convenient services.”

Urban Outfitters (Philadelphia), which has embarked on the second season of its Gen Z-oriented “On Rotation” program, this time teaming with Levi’s (San Francisco) to offer a “denim destination that blends Levi’s iconic styles with UO’s distinct point of view,” the companies said in a news release. The initiative’s immersive spaces launched at Urban Outfitter stores in the following cities earlier this month: Austin, Texas; Walnut Creek, Calif.; Las Vegas; New York; and Miami Beach. The program will run through Sept. 30.