Posted Oct 1, 2019, 2:44 AM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,747
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Originally Posted by tdawg
The Nordstrom at the base is opening in a few weeks and looks like it's going to be gorgeous.
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It should be nice...
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/...-york-flagship
For Nordstrom’s First-Ever New York Flagship, Design Is the Draw
In spite of doom-and-gloom predictions about the future of retail, the Seattle department store is betting big on a mega-sized Manhattan flagship. AD PRO finds out why
By Nicole Anderson
September 25, 2019
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On a drizzly morning earlier this month, Peter Nordstrom, fourth generation copresident of his family’s namesake department store chain, stood inside the light-filled atrium of the company’s largest undertaking to date: a towering, 320,000-square-foot Manhattan flagship. At a time when many luxury department stores across the country are shuttering locations (notably Barneys), Nordstrom is purposefully investing in brick-and-mortar. And unlike other attempts at retail revival, where novelty and destination are the main draw (notably, at Hudson Yards), Nordstrom is betting on convenience and accessibility. “We knew if we were going to be successful, we had to feel like the people's local store,” explained Nordstrom during a private tour of the new 57th Street location, which opens October 24.
It is a bold step for the 118-year-old Seattle retailer, but it’s also a deliberate one, according to Dawn Clark, Nordstrom’s senior vice president of store design and the architect who oversaw the project. “It's been long in the making for sure,” she says. “The move is for visibility and for being at the epicenter where most retailers are located. It's also really critical to the relationships with our brands.”
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But for Nordstrom to thrive in New York’s competitive retail environment—and to become the city’s “local” store—the company has made design the centerpiece of its strategy. “It can't be just a throwback to the great department stores of the past. It has to feel like it is relevant to people's lives today,” asserted Nordstrom.
.....In the case of New York, that game plan starts with location. Sitting across the street from the Nordstrom Men’s Store (that location was completed ahead of the flagship last year), the flagship occupies seven levels of New York’s most highly visible new building—literally: At a dizzying 131 stories, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill’s Central Park Tower, is slated to be the world’s tallest residential tower. The flagship also flows uninterrupted into three adjacent historic buildings, including one designed by Carrère and Hastings.
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.....Getting New Yorkers inside the store is only half the battle. To meet the needs of today’s customers, who are just as likely to shop online (a third of the company’s business is e-commerce, says Nordstrom), the company is notching up its services and amenities, including personal styling, 24/7 pickup, and three-hour same-day delivery. It’s also amped up its hospitality offerings, with four restaurants and a two-story bar designed by Rafael de Cárdenas.
The flagship itself is just one way Nordstrom is addressing the changing retail model. As the 57th Street store is set to debut, the retailer is also opening several bite-size outposts, called Nordstrom Local, around the city. The stores will be, unusually, inventory-free, but will offer alterations and be a quick stop for buying online and picking up orders.
During the press tour Nordstrom pointed out, “We've learned that customers don't make a distinction between the stores and the online shop. They do it all. It's up to us to do it in a seamless way”—hopefully inspiring time-pressed New Yorkers to log off their computers and head to Midtown.
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