Neighborhood Goods unveils free platform for local businesses

Neighborhood Goods is doing its part to help local businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The retailer, designed as the modern evolution to — and evolution of — the department store, has launched a new online initiative, “The Commons by Neighborhood Goods,” that provides a free platform for brands, restaurateurs, musicians, and artists to engage with customers, reinvigorate businesses and bring people back to work. The Commons will be supported by an e-commerce component, and will be operational for the same amount of time that Neighborhood Goods stores are closed as a result of COVID-19. 

With two locations in Texas (Plano and Austin) and one in Manhattan, Neighborhood Goods stores offer a variety of brands (majority direct-to-consumer companies new to physical retail) on a rotating basis, along with eateries, events, and services. The idea for the new platform started as a way to help brands that have had wholesale orders canceled, revenue or logistics disrupted and faced other challenges during the pandemic, the company said.

To get the program operational, Neighborhood Goods will be reviewing applications and enabling e-commerce-interested brands to begin engaging new customers on its website. 

Additionally, upon reopening, Neighborhood Goods stores will open their kitchens to feature food from local chefs to help bring restaurants back to life, hosting happy hours to bring musicians back to work, putting together job fairs with local businesses for those who’ve lost work (including their own team), and placing local art on their walls.