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    Design Firm TENFOLD to Launch Experiential Retail Space TENSPACE

    You may recognize design firm TENFOLD’s work from around Columbus and around the country.

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    The firm has offices in both Columbus and New York City. From Columbus State’s Mitchell Hall, Pursuit and the Columbus Crew Experience Center to ESPN’s global headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, the firm uses “omnichannel activation” to create physical, digital and experiential spaces.

    The company likes to say it “builds brands through culture” and uses that culture to tell a story.

    This fall, the firm launches TENSPACE, a pop-up of sorts that takes TENFOLD’s experiential brand strategy and puts it to work toward emerging retail brands. It will take over the former home of Thread at 930 N. High St. in the Short North.

    “What TENSPACE is, is sort of our spin on what a retail experience could be,” said TENFOLD Founder & CEO Rachel Friedman.

    The TENFOLD team — which is made up of professionals with a variety of skillsets in industrial design, graphic design, interior design, film, motion graphic animation and more — will work with a rising online brand in revolving, two-month “shows” where the firm will tell the story of the brand through a physical retail space and accompanying social content created for the brand.

    First up is RUDIS, a wrestling-centric sports apparel and athleisure brand that is one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands in the country, said Friedman.

    “They have really grown their assortment over the last few years to speak to a much more mainstream audience, and really building on that heart and soul of the wrestler, the grit, the perseverance, the tenacity that really resonates with the champion in all of us,” she said.

    One of the athletes representing the brand, Tamyra Mensah-Stock, just became the first Black female gold medalist in wrestling at the Toyko Olympics. TENSPACE plans to host Mensah-Stock during the RUDIS show, in one of a few events throughout the two months.

    Friedman said the space will regularly be used for events and will be equipped for livestreaming. The space will also be used to record TENFOLD’s Ten Talks podcast series, including their new podcast Rebels in Retail that features some trailblazers in the industry.

    For showcasing brands, TENFOLD is looking for companies with great founding stories, and that are “blazing new trails” in their respective industries as well.

    “These are brands that originated online, and they’re maybe very interested in an omnichannel strategy where they have some in-real-life experiences that they can offer their consumers,” she said. “We’d like to showcase brands that are right at the edge of that tipping point where they just are about to take off. That’s ideally our dream for TENSPACE, that it is this significant launching pad that becomes really known for enabling brands to rise even faster.”

    TENSPACE is expected to open in September. All of its openings will be timed specifically around the Short North’s Gallery Hop, to integrate the space as part of the Short North Arts District.

    “What we’re doing is we’re bringing that brand to life, bringing their brand and culture story to life through experiential design and creative expression,” said Friedman. “And so we describe it as a little bit art, a little bit media and a little bit retail.”

    Friedman said even after looking around other markets, they’re confident there isn’t anything else out there like TENSPACE.

    “There’s nothing that’s dedicating 1,800 square feet to really telling an emotionally connected and really layered story that allows consumers to get super intimate with the brand,” she said.

    For more information, visit tenspacebrand.com.

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    Taijuan Moorman
    Taijuan Moormanhttps://columbusunderground.com
    Taijuan Moorman is a former reporter and social media specialist for Columbus Underground and The Metropreneur who covered civics, arts, entertainment, lifestyle, and business news and features.
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