The most recent issue of Good Magazine features a brief piece on Portland eco-retailer Nau. Nau was conceived as an active-wear company for the sustainability crowd, and has plans to open 4 new real-world locations this year. These stores, which they call webfronts, are intended to drive online sales through discount purchases on in-store kiosks.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about another popular online retailer moving into the real-world. On 37Signals' blog, there was an interesting interview with the founders of Threadless.com, claiming that, "The store exists to drive traffic to the site...it will be more like a community center."
It will be interesting to see how the online assets of these retailers create space in the stores for more culture and community oriented offerings.