Bulletin

Bulletin is a New York City-based small business community and wholesale marketplace that lets independent brands and retailers connect, transact and grow together. As of its 2022 acquisition, the marketplace hosted more than 3,000 independent brands selling to over 26,000 omnichannel and online-only retailers, with product categories spanning clothing, handbags, beauty, jewelry, home and lifestyle goods.

The company began as a newsletter highlighting small businesses and independent brands, then became a flexible physical retail operation often described as "WeWork for retail space": online brands rented sections of a Bulletin store on a month-to-month basis and controlled which products were sold, their pricing and their display. In 2017 it operated stores in SoHo and Williamsburg, the latter housing the "Bulletin Broads" concept stocking roughly 30 female-run brands, with 10 percent of sales donated to Planned Parenthood of New York City. In 2019 the founders closed the physical retail concept and redirected brand demand into the current digital wholesale marketplace.

Brands listed on the platform have included Piecework Puzzles, Apotheke, Golde, Kitsch and Brightland, while buyers have included online-only retailers such as Fast AF and Flip and brick-and-mortar stores including Prelude & Dawn, Onatah General Store, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and Friends NYC.

Founding story

Co-founders Alana Branston (CEO) and Ali Kriegsman (COO) started Bulletin as a newsletter spotlighting small businesses and independent brands before converting it into a membership-based retail concept and later a wholesale marketplace.

Business model

Bulletin operates a B2B marketplace that intermediates wholesale discovery, transactions and order management between independent brands and retail buyers. In its earlier physical retail phase, brands paid a monthly membership fee for access to pop-up markets and stores, renting space month-to-month rather than signing traditional leases.

In the retail-space phase, brands paid recurring monthly membership or rental fees for in-store space; the later model centers on wholesale transactions between brands and retailers conducted on the marketplace.

Traction

At acquisition the marketplace hosted more than 3,000 independent brands and served more than 26,000 retailers. In its retail phase, the Williamsburg "Bulletin Broads" store carrying about 30 female-run brands was described by the founders as the company's most successful store to date.

Latest developments

Emerald Holding acquired Bulletin in July 2022. All Bulletin staff joined Emerald, with Branston appointed Group Vice President of gift and home categories and Kriegsman appointed Vice President of strategy across gift and home channels, both continuing to lead Bulletin alongside NY NOW. The combination was intended to add year-round digital discovery and transactions to NY NOW's in-person show format.