Unbranded Is Back

Unbranded pop-up hooks high-profile partners for downtown Dallas reprise

Unbranded, the innovative pop-up concept from Dallas entrepreneurs Matt Alexander (Need, Foremost) and Bryan DeLuca (Foot Cardigan) returns for a second year in what promises to be a bigger and better event. For starters, they’ve graduated to a space in downtown Dallas, at 1600 Commerce St., across from Neiman Marcus.

Alexander and DeLuca have netted some impressive partners for their 2015 edition, including Downtown Dallas Inc. A couple more, with strong ties to downtown, will be announced in the coming days.

Like last year, they intend to provide free space to a curated group of entrepreneurs, designers, developers, coffee roasters, photographers, and artists, to boost their exposure to the public. Unbranded will run for the months of November and December.

The duo will enlist a group of what Alexander calls “the city’s most influential people” to help them select the participants, from brands and creatives who want to exhibit their wares or for groups to host events. They will begin accepting applications at Weareunbranded.com on October 8.

Exhibitors will receive the space free of charge for one to two weeks; they can use that time to sell products, display artwork, or any such similar activity. Unbranded will take no cut of sales. Instead, it will freely provide press, foot traffic, and support.

Unbranded will bring in a full-time staff and welcome the public to browse, buy, or just hang with a cup of coffee. Last year participants at the Deep Ellum space included Ministry of Supply, Edo Popken, Lilco Letterpress, Akola Project, and Cykochik.

“We learned a lot of lessons after our first outing with Unbranded,” says DeLuca, who will appear on the popular show Shark Tank on October 9, in a release. “So, this year, it will be fully staffed, we’ve got a larger space, we’ve got a laundry list of partners — both for curation of brands and for facilitating the pop-up — and we’re ready for brands and concepts from all over the country.

“Both Matt and I are busy with our holiday efforts with our respective companies but believe this is an important project. And, evidently, a lot of other people agree.”

Speaking of their respective companies, Need, Foremost, and Foot Cardigan will have a presence at Unbranded. And the pop-up will host regular events such as happy hours in addition to acting as a store.

Consumers can sign up for more information at Weareunbranded.com. Those who sign up early will receive wristbands in November that ensure special discounts and perks at Unbranded and other surrounding storefronts and restaurants.

Unbranded will open in early to mid-November. Look to CultureMap, Unbranded’s returning media partner, for updates.

A scene from last year's Unbranded in Deep Ellum.

Courtesy photo

A scene from last year's Unbranded in Deep Ellum.

shopping downtown

Jobs report

Texas ranks among 10 best states to find a job, says new report

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

You have a better chance of landing a job in Texas than in most other states.

If you’re hunting for a job in Texas amid a tough employment market, you stand a better chance of landing it here than you might in other states.

A new ranking by personal finance website WalletHub of the best states for jobs puts Texas at No. 7. The Lone Star State lands at No. 2 in the economic environment category and No. 18 in the job market category.

Massachusetts tops the list, and West Virginia appears at the bottom.

To determine the most attractive states for employment, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 34 key indicators of economic health and job market strength. Ranking factors included employment growth, median annual income, and average commute time.

“Living in one of the best states for jobs can provide stable conditions for the long term, helping you ride out the fluctuations that the economy will experience in the future,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says.

In September, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas led the U.S. in job creation with the addition of 195,600 jobs over the past 12 months.

While Abbott proclaimed Texas is “America’s jobs leader,” the state’s level of job creation has recently slowed. In June, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas noted that the state’s year-to-date job growth rate had dipped to 1.8 percent, and that even slower job growth was expected in the second half of this year.

The August unemployment rate in Texas stood at 4.1 percent, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Throughout 2025, the monthly rate in Texas has been either four percent or 4.1 percent.

By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate in August was 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2025, the monthly rate for the U.S. has ranged from 4 percent to 4.3 percent.

Here’s a rundown of the August unemployment rates in Texas’ four biggest metro areas:

Austin — 3.9 percent
Dallas-Fort Worth — 4.4 percent
San Antonio — 4.4 percent
Houston — 5 percent

Unemployment rates have remained steady this year despite layoffs and hiring freezes driven by economic uncertainty. However, the number of U.S. workers who’ve been without a job for at least 27 weeks has risen by 385,000 this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in August. That month, long-term unemployed workers accounted for about one-fourth of all unemployed workers.

An August survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed a record-low 44.9 percent of Americans were confident about finding a job if they lost their current one.

This story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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