feel good retail
"Don't stop me now" - Queen
In 2016, research by Dr. Jacob Jolip, a specialist in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, scientifically proved that the song written by Freddy Mercury “Don’t stop me now” by the band Queen is THE song, which has been making people happy for over 50 years! 😁
A mix of positive lyrics, a tempo of 150 beats per minute and notes in a major key are the three essential characteristics to make it the number 1 “feel good song”.
Other hits have been subjected to this complex mathematical equation, in the following order: 1. Dancing Queen”, 2. Good Vibrations” and 3. Happy”.
Is the music that makes us feel good and energized enough to bring us health and happiness? To each his own personal magic potion!
Guess what my “feel good song” is? 🎶
This introduction as a foretaste, to introduce you to the subjects of this second newsletter on innovative business concepts dedicated to bodies and souls.
Among Appuntamento’s values are joie de vivre and a constant concern for what we might call “CARE” in general.
We took a look around for 3 trends in the “feel good” business:
The first is the “Pharmacy for Souls”. What’s behind this evocative name?
The second: in both New York and Paris, we had the curiosity to analyze new stores centered around our health: skin and hair quality, aging, sleep and sexual well-being. These new temples to good living display their services soberly, democratizing practices that are becoming commonplace.
Third: in the same vein, we’ve seen the proliferation of CBD Shops, the first generation of stores to popularize the benefits of cannabidiol, the second most important cannabinoid in the cannabis flower, which is non-toxic and possesses several medicinal properties, including anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antioxidant, anticonvulsant and anxiolytic. The gradual legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes has prompted us to take a look at “marijhuana dispensaries”.
Are you ready for the tour? 😄
Appuntamento wishes you happy reading and wonderful discoveries.
With love,
Daniela 💗
a pharmacy that becomes a bookshop
Only Parisian serial entrepreneur Ramdane Touhami could come up with such a quirky idea, “La Pharmacie des Âmes”, located at 25 rue Vaneau in the 7th arrondissement.
The ambition of “La Pharmacie des Âmes” is to become a book “concept-store”, a place for committed literature. It features authors involved in all kinds of struggles.
In the 2 windows, each month, the passer-by is informed: on one side he discovers an emerging publishing house and on the other an independent magazine.
The décor and architecture of this former local pharmacy merge with the new bookshop. Regular meetings with writers and others, invitations to come and see, listen and dance… this is just the beginning…
To be continued, as Ramdame is renowned for not being afraid to shock sensitive souls…
Things to remember:
– The bookshop is open from Tuesday to Sunday, the perfect day to stroll around and buy books.
What I liked:
– The only pharmacy in the world that heals with words. Our society needs it.
BEAUTY 2.0: A ROOM DEDICATED SOLELY TO THE FACE
A new generation of “places” dedicated to beauty and well-being in the broadest sense is emerging. These are places for pampering, but also for beautifying with piercings and tattoos.
Our skulls change throughout our lives. If we compare the skull to the earth, with its moving continents, plate tectonics, oceans and erosion…. the human phenomenon comes very close. Bone ageing is what leads to skin ageing, which is the surface. In between are the muscles, which find themselves pulled in all directions.
Did you know that our face has 40 muscles, and that exercising them can help prolong the toned appearance of our face? As our skulls shrink and our skin loses elasticity, the muscles responsible for our emotional expressions are important, and if we exercise them, they can play a role in slowing down the aging process.
Inge Theron understood this and in 2014 decided to create FaceGym, a place entirely devoted to educating facial muscles. Working with doctors and facialists, she created her brand specializing in facial and cosmetic massages, not forgetting her signature 30-minute workout.
From warm-up to cool-down, all the principles of gym exercises are applied to the face, so that it regains tone and elasticity in a totally natural way.
The “studios” started up in London in 2015, the first at SELFRIDGES.
Today, the brand has 6 in the UK and 6 in the USA. In January 2023, the first Australian studio opened in Sydney.
We visited the one in New York:
On one side, the long store features a reception counter and all the brand’s products: workouts and boosters are displayed on metal furniture in front of the counter, like infusions, and customers can consult tutorials on Ipads. On the other side, there are 5 numbered seats, all in a dance studio atmosphere, with bars, brick walls and mirrors. At the far end are the lockers and water point.
The brand has developed numerous innovative treatments to cleanse and pimper the skin. It has also invested in launching its tools: rollers mainly with mini needles to inject collagen and active ingredients whose formulation claims to be simple: vegan, cruelty-free and clinically proven.
She sells a wide range of skin care products, massage accessories and skincare kits. All these products take into account their environmental footprint (recycled cardboard, refillable jars, ocean-only plastic).
Things to remember:
– The brand has a blacklist of ingredients they don’t use, such as mineral oil or petrochemical-derived petroleum jelly.
– FaceGym also uses cryolysis in certain workouts.
– Various subscriptions are available to suit your needs.
What I liked:
– The sports slogans that punctuate the space: “Work it. Don’t fake it” or ‘Clean, Lift, Tone, Repeat’.
– Customers can continue to maintain their studio workouts with an in-house program, and the website and social networks feature numerous live/tutos to support them.
holistic well-being, where to find it?
The Well operates as a club entirely dedicated to well-being, their promise is to help their customers feel better by integrating modern medicine and ancestral healing.
The Well offers different destinations, each with its own unique offering:
One in the heart of Manhattan, several others for disconnecting and retreats (Connecticut, Mexico, Costa Rica).
And the last, in Miami, a unique destination for those seeking an exceptional professional lifestyle where their well-being becomes as important as their productivity:
– The Well Office, 17,000 square meters dedicated to a wellness experience that integrates health, fitness and nutrition.
– The Residences, a collection of 54 condominiums where every aspect of the design has been thought out with a view to living well and having fun every day.
We visited The Well in Manhattan, a place that combines a store, a restaurant, a hammam room, spaces for talks and exchanges, studios for meditation or yoga, massages and acupuncture. The offer is extremely comprehensive and attractive, all in a cream-colored ambience and rounded spaces. The idea is to bring together multiple therapeutic practices under one roof, offering treatments for body, mind and soul.
In the boutique, you’ll find books, creams, oils, sex toys, cards for an oracle of the day and jewelry whose shape and stones have positive resonances.
A contemporary version of the Garden of Eden, a place for sharing and connecting or reconnecting, it has a very soft, even hushed atmosphere, which doesn’t prevent visitors from feeling the human tingling coming from the organic restaurant and the richness the brand offers in its boutique.
Key points to remember:
– A very complete offer, including co-living, co-working and retreats, which appeals to a wide range of consumer typologies: a place to live that’s open to other places in the same brand.
– The business model is interesting, because it’s not a question of duplicating the same offer elsewhere, but of using the new ecosystem to tell its own story, the whole thing becoming richer and more varied, with the same guiding principle: to provide 100% feel good.
What I liked:
– Some New York coworkers have a partnership with The Well, so there are several keys to accessing their offer.
– You don’t have to be a member to take advantage of it, the club spirit is open to all, and members have access to more events and meetings.
– Care in a clear, gentle and caring environment.
botox & hyaluronic acid around the corner
We have long since entered an image-based society. Modifications are now within everyone’s reach, and are available to all age groups from the age of majority onwards.
Let’s discover together the face of a Parisian place that advocates a new way of taking care of oneself:
Led, microneedeling, glow, smart-aging, keratoregulator, a new vocabulary linked to different offers for face, body and hair. Aesthé’s promise is “to enable as many people as possible to benefit from the very best in aesthetic medicine”.
It all starts with the address on rue Francois Miron, designed as a living space spread over 3 floors. No white coats, no waiting room with old celebrity magazines, but spaces designed by an architect with a cool spirit, designer furniture in bold colors, coffee machine….
“More than a center, we’re a concept based on beauty and well-being. Aesthé has not yet said its last word….
Things to remember:
– The place exudes calm and serenity.
– The transparency of practices and products, right down to prices.
What I liked:
– Their comprehensive, tailor-made approach.
– The first diagnostic “visit” is free.
– A close-knit team of doctors who wish to convey a vision of aesthetic medicine at the service of all types of beauty.
medmen sells cannabis on fith av.
Medmen is also known as the “Apple Store of Cannabis”: bright, airy ambience, minimalist wooden tables, Ipads explaining the effects of the products customers need for their treatments, advisers in red T-shirts with the words “Buy it, it’s legal”.
Medmen’s aim is to democratize cannabis by providing consumers with transparency, education and high-quality products.
At Medmen, there are two families of products: those for recreational use do not require a prescription, and at the back of the store, as in a real pharmacy, the customer brings his prescription, served by a salesperson who collects the items in a “protected area”.
Key points to remember:
– This boutique is located on a legendary NY avenue, which is unusual for this innovative model, and its design catches the eye of passers-by.
– There are no marijuana leaves in the windows; instead, the interior is adorned with beautiful, colorful posters that “make you want to buy”, illustrating the serious, curative side of the substances used.
– Ceiling lighting is provided by LED hoops, reminiscent of the circle you can make with your mouth, creating a cloud of smoke.
What I liked:
– You can’t go in without ID: you have to be over 18.
– With the exception of certain CBD-based products, you need a doctor’s prescription to buy.
Please feel free to share this newsletter with others if you like it, and give me your feedback so that I can suggest topics that speak to you ….
Appuntamento helps founders of fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands design their smart experience, a dynamic and creative retail experience tailored to their needs.
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