Beanstalk returns to Industry City with 1,000-plus consumer brand leaders

More than 1,000 founders and CEOs from consumer brands will gather at Industry City in Brooklyn Sept. 15-16 for Beanstalk 2026. The event underscores how the campus has become a New York base for retail, e-commerce, logistics and robotics companies.

Why it matters: - Industry City is positioning itself as a working hub for the retail economy, not just an event venue. - Beanstalk brings brand leaders closer to the 3PLs, robotics firms, print shops and production companies that help run modern e-commerce. - The campus setup can turn networking into business development on site, with meetings and vendors in the same place.

What happened: - More than 1,000 of the fastest-growing consumer brands will gather at Industry City in Brooklyn on Sept. 15 for Beanstalk. - Beanstalk runs Sept. 15-16 and is aimed at founders and CEOs of companies doing between $10 million and $2 billion in revenue. - The invite-only event is returning to Industry City for the second year in a row. - NBCUniversal is the founding partner. - Attendees include companies such as Shopify, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Dyson, Away and Bombas. - Past guests of honor have included Danny Meyer, Mickey Drexler, Adam Foroughi and Larry Fitzgerald Jr.

The details: - Beanstalk 2026 is built around more than 10,000 executive meetings, 100 power lunches of eight people, 50 boardroom sessions and 30 private dinners. - The event spans nine retail categories, including food and beverage, apparel, pets, electronics and home. - The campus hosts more than 50 eateries, bars and breweries, giving attendees places to meet without leaving the property. - Industry City says the campus has more than 700 businesses and 8,500 workers on site. - Highline Commerce has expanded on campus from 27,000 to 60,000 square feet and fulfills for more than 200 brands, some with up to $50 million in annual revenue. - Highline Commerce fills up to 30% of those orders with humanoid robots from Ultra Robotics, a Y Combinator-backed tenant whose units run 24 hours a day. - Tailored Industry makes automated knitwear on site. - Gowanus Print Lab screenprints. - Puff Media live-streams shopping. - Alquist Robotics builds on campus. - Le Labo, Strand Bookstore, Adafruit, Stoney Clover Lane and Walmart eyewear supplier M Factory produce, warehouse or ship from the campus. - Industry City offers 200-pound floor loads, oversized freight elevators, three-phase power and gas. - The campus has access to 50 megawatts of power at up to 22.5% in energy cost savings.

Between the lines: - New York has long priced out many of the companies that actually fulfill, package and ship consumer goods. - Industry City is benefiting from that gap by offering industrial-grade space inside the city. - Beanstalk’s return signals that the retail industry now sees value in meeting where those operations already happen. - Max Starkman, Beanstalk co-founder, said the event stays at Industry City because the “room” it is trying to build already exists there. - Jeff Fein, senior vice president of Industry City, said the campus reflects how the engine behind selling — from ideation and design to production and distribution — has returned to the borough. - Shopify President Harley Finkelstein called Brooklyn the “Mecca for merchants, builders, entrepreneurs, and Shopify app partners” after last year’s event.

What's next: - Beanstalk 2026 takes place Sept. 14-16 at Industry City in Brooklyn. - Industry City says it will keep adding retail, logistics and robotics tenants. - The campus continues to market itself as a destination for companies that need production, storage, automation and customer-facing space in one place.

The bottom line: - Beanstalk is becoming a showcase for a simple idea: retail’s best meetings may now happen where retail actually gets built.