The third space that isn’t a place

Third spaces — places that aren’t your home or job, but offer a welcoming environment for you to socialize — have been a hot topic post-pandemic, with many lamenting their supposed disappearance. 

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has been working to reclaim the coffee chain’s role as one, with ceramic mugs and personal touches, plus remodels of 1k+ locations at ~$150k per store to make them more inviting. 

But what if…

… your third space wasn’t a particular place you went, but something more mobile? 

Patrick Kho, who writes Hong Kong-based biz/culture newsletter The Chow, noted that even having an abundance of public spaces “does not guarantee community.” After all, think about how often you go out, but don’t meet anyone new. 

Kho interviewed Athena Au, co-founder and COO of Tova, a Hong Kong members-only club with no physical location. It instead has:

• Community events in various parts of the city
• Sub-communities tailored toward different interests and hobbies
• “Tova Spaces,” a network of venues where members can receive discounts, freebies, and socialize

“You don’t say you’re part of Soho House, you say to go to Soho House. For us, people say they’re part of Tova,” Au said. 

Kho also highlighted One House Social Club, which hosts meetups at London hot spots, and Hong Kong’s Critical Mass, a twice-monthly meetup group. 

It’s not an entirely new concept… 

… if you think about the myriad groups on Meetup or other platforms that arrange gatherings at locations around their city, but it does solve for one problem: rent. 

• NeueHouse, a members-only club with locations in New York and LA, shut down abruptly this month and filed for bankruptcy, despite memberships starting at $3.6k per year. 
• Last month, Soho House announced it would go private in a $2.7B deal after struggling to turn a profit even amid growing membership and revenue. 
• Third Place Bar NYC is a pop-up for alcohol-free events. Founder Sam Bail told Eater — in a piece that contemplates if anyone really knows what a third place is — that rent is why there’s no brick-and-mortar space.  

But clubs like Tova have much lower overhead. They also differ from many friendship apps in that the burden of finding someone to meet — and then awkwardly arranging when and where — isn’t on the user.

Another plus: They could be a boon for the small businesses they frequent by increasing traffic and turning on new customers.