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I don’t care about Starbucks. Madrid now drowns in indie coffee shops with coffee brewed from specialty beans that are flown in by winged unicorns and roasted to perfection. In this city, the green mermaid feels as relevant as a McDonald’s next to Casa Botín (the oldest restaurant in the world, opened 51 years before the United States declared its independence), Dabiz Muozs three-Michelin-starred DiverXo, or any other of the best restaurants on the planet that reside in Madrid. But for all my Eurotrash snobbery, I also dont hate Starbucks. In fact, I credit it as the first place in Madrid that actually offered a cup that didnt taste like it could resuscitate a fentanyl victim or kill an ironman triathlete. For a long time, Spanish coffee was strong, but not very pleasant. [Photo: fitopardo/Getty Images So when I learned that Starbucks planned to open a new flagship store in the troubled Santiago Bernabéu Stadiumhome of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol and host to Taylor Swifts fansI had to see it for myself. I live just around the corner from the stadium, so I took along my personal Lego architect (my son) for commentary. His verdict? Oh boy! And oh boy it is. [Photo: courtesy of the author] This isn’t your typical neighborhood Starbucks. We entered through the rather bland storefront, which looks just like every other restaurant and bar integrated in the stadium facade. But beyond the door there is a foyer with digital displays that completely cover the walls. They illustrate the journey of coffee, according to the company, in animated impressionistic sequences. [Photo: courtesy of the author] A destination in a destination The cool starts when you walk into the central atrium. Concrete columnspart of the old stadium’s brutalist bonessoar toward the ceilings. Custom fixtures and plants line the walls. There is a big metal-and-wood staircase flanked by a large suspended sculpture, created by Madrid artist Cristina Mejías: a flowing ribbon that, according to the company, is an abstract Starbucks Siren that echoes the stadium’s curves. It accentuates the impression of never-ending space ahead of you. [Photo: Starbucks] On the bottom floor, there is your usual Starbucks counter, where you can order coffee and food. The company says the design pays homage to the original Pike Place store in Seattle and to the energy of Madrids San Miguel Market, an iconic iron fixture designed and built by Spanish architect Alfonso Dubé in 1916, now turned into a gourmet food court. To me, it feels nothing like San Miguel despite the use of metal, but whatever. Its a welcoming space that, unfortunately, was overcrowded (the stadium is Madrid’s top tourist destination, according to city officials). [Photo: courtesy of the author] The upper floor is what really got us going La madre que me parió! (literally, The mother who birthed me!one of Spains equivalents to Holy f%ck!). Its comprised of different lounge areasthere are small tables for small groups and large community tables, a library/reading space, and a giant mural that says MADRID. But the real attraction is the unobstructed view of the Bernabéu pitch, courtesy of floor-to-ceiling widows that stretch the entire length of the space. [Photo: courtesy of the author] On the right is the Reserve Bar, with a menu of delicious beverages and plates. Theres even a cheesecake created by chef Albert Adri, currently of Michelin-starred restaurant Enigma; Adri was the pastry chef at his brother Ferráns three-Michelin-starred elBulli, considered one of the world’s best restaurants before its closing in 2011. Starbucks boasts its mixology bar serves cocktails crafted by Coffee Masters who’ve competed in international championships. [Photo: Starbucks] I ordered a croque monsieurwhich was huge, with actual béchamel sauce, very good Emmental and Gruyre, and equally good ham on excellent sourdough breadand a Special Reserve cold brew coffee. My son got a strawberry croissant and a stracciatella (gelato) shake. The food was legitimately goodrestaurant quality, not chain store-y at all. [Photo: Starbucks] Can you watch games? I wanted to know if it was possible to watch games on match days. Unfortunately, you cant. Starbucks says, “On match days, the store is closed a few hours before kickoffthis is to allow the usual security checks to take place at the Stadiumand reopens around an hour after the game concludes. The store has to be closed to allow VIP seat holders to reach their seats, but it remains closed and doesnt serve food for the duration of the game, the spokesperson says. Starbucks says Bernabéu is among its largest coffeehouses, rivaled only, perhaps, by its other Reserve Roasteries in Chicago and Taipei, Taiwan. Superlatives don’t matter here. Spanning almost 10,000 square feet over two floors, this Starbucks feels like the biggest coffee shop I’ve ever seen. The fact that it is integrated into an iconic location could have been a problem, but Starbucks is conscious about where it isthe city of Madrid and the Real Madrids stadium. The company built everything around those elements, rather than dropping corporate branding onto generic retail space. The Chicago and Taipei Starbucks dont have the fundamental element that makes this the greatest Starbucks shop in the known universe: the views into the legendary pitch of the Bernabéu Stadium, home of the greatest soccer team of all time. It feels more like a destination that happens to serve coffee than a coffee shop with a nice view. I just hope there wont be a line out the door every day.
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E-Commerce
Sitting on a hillside between the mountains and the ocean in Lahaina, Hawaii, this new neighborhood of brightly-colored cottages did not exist a year ago. The housesmost of which were built in factories in Colorado and Idaho and delivered to Maui on a bargeare temporary homes for families who lost everything in the Lahaina wildfires in 2023. Theyre also a new type of housing for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Built to meet local and international building codes, theyre very different from the cheap, toxic trailers that FEMA deployed 20 years ago, when Hurricane Katrina displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Some of those trailers had formaldehyde levels that were 75 times greater than safe levels. They were poorly insulated and never meant for long-term housing, but some families were stuck in them for years. [Photo: Liv-Connected] The cottages in Hawaii, by contrast, use materials chosen to maintain healthy air quality. The homes are filled with light, with huge windows and high ceilings. They were built to be durable, with the potential to be turned into affordable long-term housing after their temporary use. They could be a model for future disaster response. But as the Trump administration pushes to dismantle FEMA, its not clear what will happen to the homes nowor what will happen during the next disaster. [Photo: Liv-Connected] Rethinking disaster housing Liv-Connected, the New York City-based modular home company that designed most of the new Hawaiian cottages, didnt originally plan to build disaster housing. But the startup, founded in 2019, got attention from the disaster relief world after it made some early prototypes. The companys first goal was to lower costs by making transportation easier for modular homes. The team saw the potential of building Lego-like homes efficiently in factories, but it also saw that other modular companies had failed in part because the homes were expensive to move, and building big factories in multiple locations was even more expensive. We just said, all right, our modular can be differentits going to fit on a flatbed truck, says Jordan Rogove, CEO and cofounder of Liv-Connected. We worked backward from there: How do we get a really great house that fits on a standard flatbed? [Photo: Liv-Connected] While shipping a fully constructed volumetric modular house might require a couple of oversize trucks and cost $16 to $18 a mile, a home that fits on a flatbed truck could cost $2 to $3 per mile instead. The companys basic design includes some fully built pieces, like the kitchen and the bathroom. But most of the house can be flat-packed and then quickly assembled on-site. The installation in Hawaii turned out to be different. Because the homes needed to travel more than 2,000 miles over the open ocean on a barge, it made sense to fully build each house and ship them in complete, watertight sealed units. (Future homes delivered to the continental U.S. could use the less expensive flat-packed version.) But there were other reasons that FEMA picked Liv-Connected to provide more than 100 homes for the site. [Photo: Liv-Connected] The houseswhich range from a 480-square-foot one-bedroom unit to a 980-square-foot three-bedroom homeare designed to help improve well-being, with high ceilings, wood-paneled walls, and outdoor views. “It’s just more generous and dignified,” Rogove says. “Our understanding of providing accommodations like that is that healing happens a lot faster.” Outside, the homes are painted in different colors, both as a nod to buildings that were lost in the fire and to help the development feel more like a neighborhood. “I think the issue with those FEMA trailers is that they’re all identical, and then it starts to have this quality of barracks,” he adds. “So there isn’t a sense of neighborhood or a community.” [Photo: Liv-Connected] The homes are also designed to last, with fire-resistant siding and tight insulation. They could stay in good condition for decades, versus months or a few years for an old FEMA trailer. “In our discussions with FEMA, you really need to do better for people,” Rogove says. “If you are willing to spend upward of 20% to 30% more than you would for a trailer, you can have a home that could be used for up to 30 years. So it could be deployed multiple times as opposed to a single deployment and then basically tossed into the garbage.” [Photo: Liv-Connected] Building the neighborhood After the wildfires in August 2023, FEMA invited developers to submit proposals for the homes the following March. In late June last year, Liv-Connected learned that it was selected to provide 109 homes in a first installment. (Two other companies provided a smaller number of houses, with 167 total in the development.) Then it worked with two manufacturing partners to begin building. One of FEMA’s requirements was that the homes would be delivered by November 2024. “We effectively had about two months to build 109 homes,” Rogove says. “And then another two months to have all of them installed.” At the same time, engineers were preparing the site. Hawaii offered state-owned land for FEMA’s temporary use at no cost. At a Colorado factory owned by Liv-Connected’s partner Fading West, a crew of workers spent 12-hour days on the project, building as many as 10 homes each week. Guerdon Modular Buildings, in Idaho, was contracted to build the final 25 homes, and it finished in two weeks. Then the houses were trucked to the Port of Seattle and spent three weeks on a barge to Maui. Just before Thanksgiving, families started moving in. The process was incredibly fast, although the factories say that it could be even faster if FEMA could preapprove particular designs. “If FEMA had a library of preapproved modular plans, we could start production within seven to 10 days of a natural disaster, Tommy Rakes, CEO of Guerdon, said in one case study of the project. These homes could be shipped anywhere in the continental U.S. in three to five days, installed, and occupied within a day. In under three weeks, displaced victims could have permanent homes. Having additional factories in some areas could also help. Fading West has talked to the Hawaiian government about the possibility of setting up a local modular housing factory to avoid long-distance transportation. The state also sees the potential for modular housing as a way to help it deal with the affordable housing crisis. [Photo: Liv-Connected] An uncertain future In FEMA’s original plan, families would have up to five years to live in the homes in Lahaina, paying a fair market rent that’s limited to 30% of a household’s gross income. But the development may now close as soon as next February. FEMA would have to grant an extension to the state to keep it open later and continue providing financial assistance. The agency says that the state’s request is currently under review, but it didn’t provide more details. It’s not clear what will happen next, or where the homes will end up when the project ends. Trump has called for eliminating FEMA and tried to cut billions in disaster funding. FEMA originally planned to build another 231 modular disaster relief homes in Lahaina, Rogove says, but that doesn’t appear to be moving forward. “It’s been absolute silence,” he adds. “So I think the likelihood of that happening seems to decrease day by day.” FEMA says that it isn’t planning another 231 homes. In future disasters, it’s not clear how FEMA will handle housing or what role modular homes will play, though the agency says that modular homes may be considered when they’re a fit for local requirements. It’s possible that states may push the solution forward faster. In Maui, the state of Hawaii partnered with a nonprofit developer on another modular neighborhood built near the FEMA site. Texas has explored the idea of building modular housing in advance and storing the units in warehouses in key citiesready to deploy in a disaster. In California, Liv-Connected and other modular housing manufacturers are offering options to residents trying to rebuild after the Los Angeles fires. “What we’ve seen so far is states stepping in to fill the gap, in the absence of the clear organizational order that was there before,” Rogove says. “I think that’s probably what it’s going to look like for the next several years. That fills me with hope for the states that have the capacity to do that. And I have a lot of reservations for states that don’t have those types of resources.” In Hawaii, the state government says that FEMA’s assistance has been critical over the last several years through hurricanes, flooding, fires, and volcanic activity. “While state, local, and private resources have supported recovery, they are limited in scale and speed,” Gov. Josh Green wrote in a recent letter about the agency. “Timely federal deployment remains crucial to meeting the needs of affected communities.”
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E-Commerce
Today, a new glossy magazine called 72 hits the news stands. On the cover, you’ll find Julia Roberts gazing intensely at the camera, wearing a black button-down shirt and jacket designed by Phoebe Philo along with chunky diamond-encrusted jewelry. Inside, she’s interviewed by George Clooney, but you’ll also find stories about luminaries across fashion and entertainment, from Stella McCartney and Jonathan Anderson to Oprah Winfrey and Adwoa Aboah. 72, a quarterly fashion magazine, is the flagship product of a new media and entertainment company called EE72. It is cofounded by Edward Enninful, the former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, along with his sister, Akua Enninful, a talent agent. (The company’s name combines Edward’s initials and the year of his birth.) After more than two decades running some of the best-known fashion titles in the world, Enninful is ready to strike out on his own. [Cover Image: Craig McDean (photograph)/courtesy EE72] “When you are on someone else’s masthead, you have to please your bosses and advertisers,” he says. “I was ready for total creative freedom.” Launching a new magazine in this moment is a bold move. The media industry has been on the decline for more than a decade, as people shift their attention toward streaming services and TikTok, and advertisers cut their spending on magazines and newspapers. Last year, 15,000 media jobs were cut in the United States, as places like the Washington Post and Vox Media had layoffs. But Enninful is confident in his ability to create a profitable media business, despite these headwinds. After all, he’s done so before. In 2011, he took over W magazine when the publication was struggling and increased ad pages by 16%. Between 2017 and 2023, as editor-in-chief of British Vogue, he drove up both digital traffic and print circulation. “From the time I was in my twenties, I was always offered magazines that needed to be turned around,” he recalls. “Then I realized that turning things around is my superpower.” New Business Models Enninful started his career at a time when magazines were still thriving. He was scouted as a model in London as a teenager, going on to model for Arena and i-D, before pivoting to styling fashion shoots. He was eventually named fashion editor of i-D. Until the internet and social media took off 20 years ago, magazines were a lucrative business because brands would pay top dollar to have their ads seen by large audiences. But 15 years ago, Enninful began to see the uphill battles the media industry was facing. In 2011, when he became style director at W, and then in 2017, when he became the editor in chief of British Vogue, advertising was beginning to decline. To ensure the success of his magazines, Enninful had to think creatively about working with advertisers. Rather than just selling them banner ads or print pages, he’s been focused on finding other ways to collaborate. “The advertising system needed to be disrupted, and I’ve been doing this my whole career,” he says. He’s bringing this same approach to 72. For the first issue, there isn’t a single page of advertising. Instead, he creates bespoke partnerships with each brand that involves things like in-person events, podcasts, videos, and even products. For instance, for the magazine’s launch party, 72 partnered with Moncler and Google Shopping, enabling these brands to get in front of some of the most influential people in fashion. “We offer our clients holistic packages that are tailored to their needs.” he says. While Enninful is the chief creative officer of the company, he has hired a team of experts to run various parts of the business. Simone Oliver (formerly of BET and Refinery29) is the head of content, Sarah Harris (formerly of British Vogue) is the editorial director for both the magazine and website, and Lee Swillingham and Stuart Spalding (founders of the creative agency Suburbia) are co-creative directors of the magazine. EE72 will also have another revenue stream in the form of a consulting wing that works directly with brands to advise them on how to be relevant in this cultural environment. “This takes the pressure off the magazine,” he says. “For the magazine, we can just focus on creating really excellent journalism and beautiful art rather than the needs of the advertisers.” More Diversity But to succeed as a magazine, you need more than just strong advertising revenue. You also need a fresh and relevant point of view. Over the course of the last two decades, Enninfulwhose family moved from Ghana to London when he was a childhas done this by bringing diversity to the notoriously exclusive fashion industry. Throughout his career, he’s focused on highlighting the importance of inclusivity. In 2017, after President Trump was elected the first time, Enninful brought together 80 prominent members of the fashion industry to create a video called, “I Am An Immigrant.” In 2019, he used the September issue of British Vogue to spotlight 15 female trailblazers including Greta Thunberg. (The issue was guest-edited by Meghan Markle.) Enninful says he will bring much of the same approach to 72. In many ways, the magazine will be reminiscent of other high-end fashion magazines on the market, including Vogue. We’ll see top designers’ latest collections and read interviews with cultural icons. There will be lavish photo spreads by top photographers. But Enninful will continue to focus on bringing in underrepresented voices and perspectives. He believes it is particularly important to do this now because “diversity, equity, and inclusion” are under attack not just in the United States, but around the world. Enninful believes that promoting diversity isn’t just a moral issue: It’s good for business. “When you feature diverse people on the cover of the magazine, you attract more people into the eco-system that had previously been ignored,” he says. “Throughout my career, I’ve seen that this is great for business.” But for all his experience in the magazine business, Enninful believes there’s still a lot to learn because the industry keeps changing. He says one of the most exciting things about starting a brand-new media company is that he has the freedom to experiment. He plans to run the magazine like a startup, instead of being bound to the traditions and systems of legacy media companies. “There’s a reason we didn’t buy an existing maazine title,” he says. “We didn’t want to be stuck with a legacy brand. We wanted something new, young, and agile. We can learn from mistakes, move quickly, and adapt.” And ultimately, he believes that readers are also looking for something new right now. “Many people are exhausted by what they’re seeing in the media,” he says. “I think it’s a great time to be starting something new.”
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E-Commerce
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