For many of us, a trip to Nordstrom has been as traditional as Thanksgiving is, a rite of passage or the place where we feel at home while shopping. With the strategy that has made them unique from coast to coast of inspiring and engage customers through relevant products across price and style spectrums. Nordstrom has opened its New York Flagship. Representing the company’s biggest and best statement of the brand and most significant single project investment in retailers history and feature 320,000 square feet of fashion retail and culinary located on seven levels – 2 below street level and five high spread over three interconnected buildings. Launching new brands regularly and growing their existing partnerships with limited distribution and emerging brands to differentiate their offer. Nordstrom NYC provides customers with a sense of newness and discovery through innovative product concepts.
Design
-Floors of the flagship have an open format, allowing for Nordstrom to evolve how they curate and show products over time, depending on what New York customers respond to.
– Architectural Designer, James Carpenter: Designed a stunning atrium and exterior glass waveform façade providing an interactive viewing experience for customers both inside and outside the store; The façade brings natural light, connecting the shopping experience to the city.
– Chain-mail veils and lighting effects allow the store to reflect the seasons and create changing moods to celebrate the store and city cultural events.
– Soaring 19-foot ceilings and an open, flexible floor plan allow for evolving how we curate and show products over time, depending on what New York customers respond to.
Merchandise
– Merchandise includes a purposeful and curated breadth of offerings across clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty, children, and home, making Nordstrom a one-stop destination.
– The store environment creates a sense of discovery, allowing the customer to find brands they haven’t experienced before, including Pop-In@Nordstrom, SPACE for emerging designers and Nordstrom x Nike that retail innovator and VP of Creative Projects, Olivia Kim brings to the store; Exclusive Beauty, Wellness + Spa Services and SPACE.NK apothecary brands.
Service + Experience
– As their customer evolves, so do the service and experiences they offer, with even a higher level of unique services coming to the NYC Flagship, including 24/7 Buy Online & Pick-Up in store, 3-hour same-day delivery, personal stylists (with a stylish lounge that’s as big as some Manhattans apartment), detailed tailoring and more.
– Technology include in the new store includes a personal communication system that allows store staff to order garments or a beverage for any customer at any location in the store. Nordstrom NYC is also pet-friendly.
Food + Beverage: 7 Properties
– Bistro Verde is an American–Italian cuisine + family-friendly
– Broadway Bar is a custom cocktail bar
– Shoe Bar – Coffee + cocktails as you try on shoes
– Wolf Restaurant – An intimate Italian–inspired restaurant
– Jeannie’s – Family-friendly featuring traditional Italian cuisine
– Hani Pacific – Asian–inspired cuisine
– Oh Mochi – Japanese–inspired
Exclusive Products
– A robust selection of elite, limited-distribution, and emerging brands and styles across the following:
– Designer and Contemporary Women’s Apparel
– Designer and Contemporary Accessories
– Fine and Fashion Jewelry
– Designer and Contemporary Footwear
– Beauty
– Kid’s
– Home
Nordstrom is one of the few retail companies that is helmed by a founder family member. Attributing to the family’s deep involvement in the company is a proudness of the reputation built with customers for more than 118 years while encouraging the opportunities they see to continue to grow the business.
On the day of their NYC Flagship opening with caught up with the company’s co-CEO Pete Nordstrom. A fourth-generation member of the Nordstrom family, Pete Nordstrom, has served as co-president since 2015. Officially joining the company in 1978 at the age of 16, Pete worked within the shoe departments as a sales assistant during summer breaks from the University of Washington, where he obtained a degree in English. Joining the company full time at the age of 21, Pete steadily worked his way upward and in 1995 was promoted to his first office of co-president of the company. During his time serving at the helm of the company, Pete has overseen several strategic acquisitions that have added to Nordstrom’s market prominence within the fashion industry. We ask!
What prompted the decision to expand your retail imprint in New York?
It’s the largest retail market in North America and the only one where we don’t have a store. We have a lot of customers in New York City who have been patiently waiting for us after decades of work. We’re excited to get it open finally.
What is your secret to staying personally informed today on customer relations?
As retailers, we are always focused on listening to what the customer is telling us to do a better job for them, whether that’s merchandise, services, or experiences. We always have to be following where the customer wants us to go.
The event’s opening host line up is pretty diverse, as well as the entertainment. The roots, Lady Bunny, Lady Fag, etc. tell us more about what prompted this selection.
We wanted to throw a great party. Based on the feedback our team received, we did a great job creating a compelling event that our customers will remember for a long time.
Nordstrom’s 120th anniversary is around the corner. Should anything customers get excited to experience during the celebration?
Milestones aren’t crucial to our customers. Great product, excellent service, and great experiences are what is essential. That’s what we’re going to be focused on for the next 120 years.
Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion retailer, founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle by Swedish American John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, today Nordstrom operates 374 stores in 40 states, including 122 (+1) full-line stores in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico; 239 Nordstrom Rack stores; three Jeffrey boutiques;
Two clearance stores; six Trunk Club clubhouses; and its Nordstrom Local service concept. Additionally, customers are served online through nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com, HauteLook, and TrunkClub.com. The group opened a men’s store in Manhattan in April 2018 and thus a women’s location across the street. Nordstrom, Inc.’s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.
While Nordstrom isn’t the only retailer in midtown, it does have the advantage of a “customer first” approach to the shopping scene in NYC, which will be hard to trump. As costumers experience a new way of feeling in shopping in NYC, family and customer values can be seen throughout the store.
