Home Sweet Home at Back Market’s office

Creating our unique workspaces that work, play, live, and breathe

What comes to mind when you think “office”? It’s desks & screens, of course. Free coffee, sure, and face-to-face meetings without a single awkward “you’re muted” moment (thank goodness). But today, it has to be so much more.

I’ll tell you what the office is for me: it’s energy. It’s connection. It’s a hotbed of creation and collaboration. More than just efficient tools and workspaces for concentration and productivity, but also encouraging play and interaction and other “non-work” activities. Those chance encounters, at the coffee machine or on the terrace for a game of pétanque for lunch, that enrich and drive progress in surprising ways. That’s exactly the sweet spot we aim for in our Back Market offices around the world. How? Glad you asked.

Paris. A moment in the sunny garden of our office — a pure “kiff” for the Parisians.

Spaces that reflect the work of Back Market

At our 5000 sq. meter headquarters office in Bordeaux, Back Makers can look out over an inspiring view, enjoy world-class cuisine & more. In NY the Bushwick neighborhood serves as the perfect cradle for entrepreneurial problem-solving. Then there’s the timeless and irresistible charm of Paris, where our 7-floor office serves as the perfect home base in the city of light and love.

Paris. Our offices are heart of where we’re leading the refurbished revolution, so you better believe that they state our message loud and clear, like with these neon lights in the Paris office.

In all of our Back Market locations, as well as our coworking spaces in sunny Barcelona, vibrant Berlin, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul, there’s a certain “je-ne-sais-quoi” that animates the offices and keeps driving our team forward in our mission. But that doesn’t just spring up from nowhere…there’s real thought and effort behind each one of these locations, and the offices based in them.

With Covid, like all companies, we had a major challenge: rethinking the office so it was safe and appealing, productive and inspiring all while leaving the flexibility for people to build their work weeks the way they want and need. Our goal: when we ask people to come to the office 2 days per week, it feels inviting: an opportunity for socializing and collaborative productivity in a welcoming space.

“It was essential for us to create a real living, breathing space, to share moments and projects and time together, and feel right at home in the offices.”

So much more than the offices of yesterday

That’s also why our offices have such a diversity of spaces for various needs and parts of the day, all while keeping a sense of our global DNA. It goes without saying that we’ve got the office basics. You can collaborate in fully-equipped open spaces (you’re not working on the 4th floor, here it’s “Michou”). Connect with colleagues in the office or across the world on Zoom in meeting rooms. Get in the zone in one of the many private phonebooths & other private spaces for focus.

Paris. Each of our floors is dripping with personality, including my personal favorite, the 6th floor which is inspired by the famous Michou Cabaret.

But the offices are about so much more than that: you can sweat it out in either the Paris or the Bordeaux fitness studio where Back Makers enjoy bootcamp, yoga, dance classes, and more, or take a meditation or nap break in Bordeaux’s quiet room. Grab lunch at one of our on-site cafeterias: Bordeaux’s delicious Vedette (created by a former employee!) or Paris’ local, no-waste lunch service Ripayon available Monday-Thursday. And at any time there’s a cozy assortment of lounge furniture scattered all around the offices, perfect for a little dose of chill, as specially-curated music from Midi fills the air with just the right sound for the time of day.

Paris. Nothing better then a sweat sesh to get your blood pumping after those back-to-back Zoom calls.

Bordeaux. Working from our office is delicious, thanks to our in-house cafeteria that serves up fresh & inspired dishes.

Paris. Always room to pull up a chair in Paris’ cafeteria, where Back Makers from the 7 working floors come together to chat, laugh, and compare who’s got the best (or worst) dessert.

Perhaps the crowning gem is our outdoor spaces in Paris, Bordeaux, Barcelona, and NYC, which all invite Back Makers to disconnect from their screens and connect with their colleagues on the spacious patio, with a little dose of nature in the vegetable garden, or with their inner child thanks to a game of pétanque or cornhole.

Bordeaux. “Nanacabana” (inspired by Nana Mouskouri) is the perfect place for a coffee & a lunch with sun.

NYC. Ain’t no wind gonna stop us from enjoying the New York office’s terrace (which sometimes doubles as a wind tunnel / zero-G experience for our lawn furniture).

What’s more is that each of these parts of Back Market’s offices are modulable, so as to create a space within a space: the cafeteria transforms into an auditorium for our monthly Some Hands presentation or an indoor flea market where Back Makers can give objects a second life. The office team can help transform an open workspace or a meeting room into the perfect location to run a workshop, host a pop-up store, or hear from an awesome guest speaker. There’s even a (not-so-secret) hidden room in one of our offices that can double as a team building location…or a napping location.

Bordeaux. The Agora in our headquarters office is always bubbling with life, be it the monthly Some Hands presentation, a lunchtime talk, or a special guest event (drag show or Lunar New Year parade, anyone?)

Bordeaux. The Agora also hosts our weekly Monday Brief — so Back Makers can ease into the week with useful & inspiring updates around the company in a bright & warm space — all from the comfort of a beanbag.

Wellbeing & philosophy: Never green enough in the offices

Another important priority in the offices is to walk the talk on Back Market’s business model. We’re committed to minimizing harm to the planet and people living on it: it’s not green enough. Ever.

That starts with the physical design of the offices, carefully crafted in collaboration with Studio Combo for our newest spaces in Bordeaux, Paris, and NYC, to employ recycled (reconditioned, if you will) and minimally-processed natural materials (mainly wood) that consume very little energy for their production, and that can be used again afterwards in new life cycles. We fell in love pretty much instantly with the pure and simple, inviting style Studio Combo proposed: the way of thinking, the mockups of the finished spaces that would greet Back Makers daily at work, and especially its harmony with our way of doing business, all in an environmentally respectful way.

This philosophy of taking care (of both humans and the environment) also extends to our day-to-day operations, which means choosing organic, circular, local, and ethical in all our locations. We seek out brands that work in the same cities as us, with the same values as us: nearby breweries for an afterwork drink together, homesprung catering businesses to discover delicious & diverse cuisine at our monthly office parties, and plenty of other partners that bring an authentic local touch.

From eco-friendly cleaning products to compost collection, local food & beverage partners to energy-saving systems, we’re constantly questioning how we do things, and working to improve, often in collaboration with the Sustainability Team. We equip our offices with comfortable, vibrantly unique secondhand furniture found via circular economy sites like Selency or Leboncoin, garage sales, and antique markets.

Paris. Our offices are also the perfect place to showcase souvenirs from fun events, like the cardboard signs Back Makers decorated marched with at the Global Climate Strike in Paris, and many other hidden gems.

Paris. Like in all our offices, we love the perfect mix of productive and comfy spaces, to meet, lunch, work, and chill.

No office? No problem: how we take care of full-remote employees

Now you may be wondering: that’s great for people who work regularly in the offices, but what about those who work 100% remotely? Well, developers and techies, we see you and we’ve got your back too, with purchase vouchers to perfect your work-from-home setup with…what else? Reconditioned tech from Back Market! Hello, double-monitors, goodbye laptop neck.

Berlin. Working in comfy mode.

And because nobody can work in a vacuum, void of all social interaction, all full-remote employees get a travel stipend to visit the office, see their team, and enjoy all the office benefits regularly (about monthly) as well.

To 2023 & beyond: Offices that grow & evolve with us

For all Back Makers, our goal is to provide offices that meet all their needs and more, be it for a monthly visit, everyday use, or anything in between.

Because let’s admit, it’s a treat to work in pajamas (at least pajama bottoms) from the couch and get some laundry done between Zoom calls. At the same time, there’s something to be said for being together with colleagues, having real meeting rooms, and the occasional free breakfast and other random office perks. That’s all pretty damn nice too.

For me, personally and professionally, a great office space is just something I couldn’t go without. It’s what keeps my workdays inspiring and interactive, and I love helping to define & build that space for others too.

So how about you? What is it that matters most to you in an office? The free coffee’s great, but what do you think is missing in office spaces today? How would you dream up the ideal workspace?

At Back Market we’ve been able to envision and bring to life our own ideal workspaces, which will keep on evolving…and tomorrow’s offices might just be the ones you envision today.