Laundry & lattés: Hybrid spaces and beautiful business friendships

Chaz Desousa is a young Montreal entrepreneur who already co-owns a restaurant and a food truck. But when he had the idea for his latest venture, a vintage-style laundromat with oversized washers and dryers, vending machines dispensing funky socks, and sofas for lounging, he went looking for a roommate.

... Demetrios Vakratsas, associate professor of marketing at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management, says these shared arrangements are part of a larger trend in retail in which retailers try to offer shoppers, especially at the higher end of the market, more than goods to buy.

Read full article: The Montreal Gazette