Brick and mortar is back? Retail startup Bulletin raises $2.2 million in VC money

The idea is a well-designed brick-and-mortar storefront that’s basically sublet to small, frequently online-only retailers. The brands can rent on a month-to-month basis and can scale from a few shelves on the wall to a corner of the store.

It’s called Bulletin, and it’s the work of Ali Kriegsman and Alana Branston, who just raised $2.2 million to expand beyond their current Williamsburg and SoHo outposts.

“We want to make it as easy to book space in a store as it is to book an Airbnb or a hotel,” Bulletin cofounder Ali Kriegsman said in an interview earlier this year. “You should be able to see an active space and book shelf space or square footage in the store instantly.”

We wrote in March:

What makes Bulletin particularly appealing is that its model is working so well in other industries. The coworking market has absolutely exploded, with industry leader WeWork now valued in the billions, and with more than 70 separate coworking companies having sprouted up in the city in recent years. Coliving, though much younger and smaller an industry, is booming, with leaders, the Brooklyn-based Common, having opened nine houses in the last year and a half. So why shouldn’t retail space be the next to go?

The seed round had 11 investors in total, led by Brooklyn’s Notation Capital. It included big names like Flybridge, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Y Combinator.

Inside Bulletin’s SoHo store. (Courtesy photo)