Industrious opening its first NJ co-working space inside the Mall at Short Hills

The Mall at Short Hills will soon welcome a new kind of tenant: a co-working office space company called Industrious.

Industrious, which provides flexible workspaces, will open its first New Jersey outpost inside the Millburn mall by year's end. The company will occupy the 30,000-square-foot space left behind by Saks Fifth Avenue, continuing an innovative track as one of the first companies of its kind to enter the retail frontier.

"Industrious joins our lineup of more than 40 tenants in The Mall at Short Hills that are unique to the state," Jamie Cox, the mall's general manager, said. "It’s a testament to the strength of the shopping center, but more importantly, curates a unique tenant assortment that is one of the many ways we keep the shopping center fresh and appealing."

The mall has welcomed new companies in recent years such as Canada Goose and Indigo, Canada's largest bookstore chain. The affluent customer base in the Short Hills area is a key draw for retailers.  That customer base, coupled with the mall's proximity to New York City, were equally attractive to Industrious.

"The mall itself is obviously very attractive and filled with some great, great brands that are on par with Industrious, and very consistent from an overall brand perspective," said Barry Shaw, Industrious' northeast regional manager. "All that together is a recipe for business."

The Short Hills location will offer a mix of co-working and private office space for individuals or teams of up to eight, the company said. The co-working hubs offer internet, unlimited free printing, wellness rooms, a communal atmosphere, and events and parties, according to the company's website.

The locations are run by community managers, who have backgrounds in hospitality, Shaw said. The managers handle everything from membership issues to arranging events inside the space. 

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Both individuals and companies can sign up for an Industrious membership. Anyone interested in joining would fill out an application, schedule a tour and take it from there. Once a customer joins, they have access to work at any Industrious site across the country, though managers have a system to prevent overcrowding through caps at their spots when necessary, Shaw said.

Industrious operates more than 65 locations in 40 cities, and no two locations are the same, Shaw said. Each has a sleek, minimal and earthy design, but is tweaked to fit its market. Although Industrious members include some high-profile companies like Pfizer, Hyatt, Pandora, Lyft, and Pinterest, it remains to be seen what sort of individuals or companies the Short Hills location will attract, Shaw said. 

"We’re not actively marketing and targeting folks yet," he said. "There’s going to be a little discovery to who we attract."

Co-working office spaces are nothing new. For instance, Serendipity Labs, based in Rye, New York, opened co-working locations several years ago in Ridgewood and in White Plains, New York. And Regus, a major workspace player worldwide, has multiple locations in New Jersey and Westchester County.

But Industrious is regarded as a pioneer by opening locations in malls.

In August, Macerich, a major mall operator that manages 48 regional shopping centers, announced its partnership with Industrious to open co-working spaces across its properties. Their first venture, launched in February, was an Industrious site inside Fashion Square mall in Scottsdale, Ariz. The companies are preparing to roll out a second location at Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, California.

The Arizona location fared better than expected, prompting Industrious' decision to expand into malls elsewhere. Their first location was nearly filled to occupancy in 10 weeks, Shaw said.

"It was the first time we were ever doing something like that," Shaw said of opening inside a mall. "There is no real precedent for it in the market either."'

The Mall at Short Hills will be their first mall location in partnership with Taubman Properties, which manages the Millburn mall as well as other high-end properties like the Beverly Center in Los Angeles.

Malls offered an interesting opportunity for Industrious, Shaw said. The company's earlier sites had been situated in major metro areas, like New York City, where workers have access to amenities like cafes, bars, gyms, and recreational areas. Malls increasingly began to offer those same amenities in an effort to attract more foot traffic as the retail world continues to face challenges from online shopping. Industrious chose to take advantage of that fact.

Industrious said it plans to open more locations across the United States, with an estimated 25 percent of them in suburban areas. Eventually, their trajectory may expand internationally, too.

"Now, we’re kind of going back over a lot of our major cities and evaluating not just the metros, but the suburbs around them," Shaw said. "Now the suburban focus just feels like an opportunity and we’re well positioned to take advantage of it."