Co-working spaces are branching out to nontraditional spaces

Co-working spaces are branching out to nontraditional spacesCo-working spaces are branching out to nontraditional spacesWith 57.3 million of the workforce estimated to be freelance, the mobile professional has long outgrown coffeeshops and traditional co-working spaces like WeWork. The co-working giant can cost up to $350-550 a month for a hot desk, more than some are willing to pay.In response, retail and hospitality spaces from big-box stores to empty restaurants and bars are beginning to experiment with moonlighting as cheaper, more flexible co-working spaces for freelancers and telecommuters.Think bigOffice Depot has been testing one of its Los Gatos, California storesas a co-working space since August, reports Digiday. Called a Workonomy Hub, it boasts 5,000 feet of space with open-office style seating, some private offices, and a Starbucks lounge. Its $40 a day for a seat, $750 a month for a private office. The office-supplies and services stores see the move as a way to gain c ustomers for its business services.Other big-box stores have rolled out the red carpet for freelancers since 2016 Staples partnered with co-working startup Workbar to create several dedicated co-working spaces in several Massachusetts stores, complete with unlimited coffee happy hours. The cost? $130 a month for unlimited use.Scale downOn a smaller scale, startups like Spacious and Kettlespace have colonized smaller territories restaurants, reports Voxs The Goods. In Spaciouss case, their coworking portfolio is 15 Manhattan restaurants that are dinner-only and therefore can open to freelancers during the morning and afternoon hours for $129 a month. (Kettlespace is $99 a month). Telecommuters type and take calls in the eateries booths and tables, and coffee and tea are served.Spacious is also in San Francisco, and similar restaurant co-working startups exist in Switch in Austin ($150 a month) and Philadelphia (Wheach Seats, for example, features empty bars and charges $165 a month) .The trend doesnt seem to be slowing down anytime soon - as long as people need a seat, coffee, and WiFi during the day, it looks like more and more places that arent a traditional office, of course will open up to busy freelancers.