US retailer converts store to co-working space

An American office supply retailing company is piloting a co-working space in one of its stores to repurpose otherwise unused empty space

Spotted: As online sales continue to grow, big-box retailers are being left with a lot of real estate that they no longer have a use for. Rather than selling these properties, some retailers are thinking up new uses for them. One of these is US retailer Office Depot, which is repurposing some of its buildings into co-working spaces.

Office Depot is seeing growing revenue, but much of this growth is in buy-online-pickup-in-store. This growth leaves a lot of space in the brick-and-mortar stores under-utilised. The company has therefore decided to pilot innovative ways to use the store footprint. The first of these is the introduction of Workonomy Hub, a new co-working space located in the Los Gatos store. Workonomy was developed in partnership with co-working developer Proximity. It features open ‘hot desks’, private offices, a lounge with a Starbucks kiosk, super-fast Internet, a bookable conference room, business services and, of course, easy access to office supplies.

At Springwise, we have seen a big growth in co-working, spurred by the rise of the gig economy. Recent innovations have included a co-working space that includes a school, and a platform that provides co-workers with free accommodation.