Nordstrom’s first full-line New York City store officially opens its doors today.
New York City is known for its iconic department stores. Located within a stone’s throw of each other on the city’s East Side, there’s Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, and, of course, the hulking Bloomingdales which rings in at a whopping 815,000 square feet. In this retail rate race, the Seattle-based Nordstrom has always stayed on the sidelines, favoring suburban markets and loyal shoppers who turn to them as an up-market option sitting alongside Macy’s and Lord & Taylor.
This philosophy all came to an end earlier this morning with the grand opening of Nordstrom’s first standalone menswear store, located in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. The 47,000-square-foot behemoth is chock full of must-have items — both of the every day and awesomely unique varieties. Of the shop’s three expansive floors, there’s an entire one devoted to suiting and another where both affordable and luxury brands like Shinola, Levi’s, PLAY by Commes des Garcons, and Balenciaga all operate their own shop-in-shops as blue-chip brands under the Nordstrom umbrella.
With coveted clothing and accessories at every turn, it may seem that there’s little room for superfluous sideshows, but they have those too. For lunch, there’s The Clubhouse, offering a menu of lunch-centric dishes like lobster rolls and salads, but perhaps best of all, the full-service bar allows for drinking-whilst-shopping. Ask any sales associate, and your cocktail of choice can be summoned at a moment’s notice. Health nuts fret not, there’s a coffee shop too.
Altogether, it’s experiences like these that round out the space as a destination, and when it’s collectively compared to the stayed and storied department stores nearby, this bold, bright, and modern space becomes all the more appealing. And next year, the ladies will have their time to shine too, with the opening of a 320,000-square-foot Nordstrom women’s storefront, due to bow in October 2019 at 3 Columbus Circle.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
