StubHub Sets Up Shop

Move over Broadway, here comes StubHub. The secondary ticketing Web site has increased its presence in the Big Apple, opening its first street-level store in the city within walking distance of the TKTS kiosk in Times Square.

It’s not the first brick-and-mortar outlet for the company in New York, but it’s definitely StubHub’s most visible site thus far. The company previously opened a location near Grand Central Terminal in an office building where people could pick up tickets they’d purchased online within three days of an event.

The new site – smack dab in the middle of the entertainment district and just down the street from the world-famous discount TKTS booth – and its retail-looking environment could change the way StubHub does business in New York City, according to spokesman Sean Pate.

Pate told Pollstar the location, one of a handful of regional last-minute service centers around the country, has been designed as the company’s "crown jewel."

"The store in Times Square is really taking it to a new level, especially when it comes to customer service," he said.

This isn’t just any old pickup window. The store features computer terminals so customers can walk up, see which tickets are available and pick them up.

"It’s going to incite a lot of last-minute decision makers," Pate said.

The location could also serve as a dumping ground for brokers in the city, spurring the growth of discounted last-minute ticket sales.

And the New York shopfront is just the beginning.

StubHub has always positioned itself as an online marketplace for tickets, simply providing a venue for buyers and sellers, but as more and more states pass legislation establishing free secondary ticket markets, a big push into retail stores is likely.

Pate said he expects the company will be redesigning some of its other last-minute service centers around the country. Besides the NY shop, StubHub operates centers in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington D.C.