Manhatten Mecca

Over the last 12 months, Times Square in the heart of Manhattan has consolidated its position as the destination in New York for casual American fashion, but there are new stores right across the Big Apple

The phrase a ‘New York minute’ is usually taken to mean that time is compressed in the Big Apple when compared with other metropolises.

And things do seem to move a little faster here than in most other locations. But there is a sense of the permanent about much of the city’s retail offer. Landmarks abound, whether it’s Macy’s (still billed as the world’s largest department store), Bloomingdale’s or even the more recent Apple store at the southern tip of Central Park. It’s hard to escape the feeling that retailers who set up shop here are in for the long game.

A surprise therefore to find that in Times Square, the heart of Manhattan, much has changed during the last year. This is now the home of the megastore and over the last year Los Angeles-headquartered fashion outfit Forever 21 has opened the largest apparel store in Manhattan, while next door, Disney has opened a flagship that leaves what is on view in Europe somewhat in the shade. And to cap things, local talent Aéropostale, a national chain that operates from New York, has taken a site with a long sweeping frontage. The three newcomers join American Eagle, in creating what must be one of the most flashy retail locations on the planet - a destination that features astoundingly large screens on which ever-changing content makes it difficult to work out where to look.

There are, of course, other places to get a fresh retail perspective on New York. Uptown, in East Harlem, Target has opened its first Manhattan store, while the Brit invasion that has seen Topshop, All Saints (mobbed last Saturday), Ted Baker and Superdry setting up store in SoHo over the last two years has continued with the arrival of a Dr Martens shop in the same downtown neighbourhood.

There have also been a fair number of smaller, branded, shops that have taken the plunge, ranging from fashion, courtesy of designer Marc Jacobs with a Bookmarc store, to girl-friendly bike shop Adeline Adeline in the city’s modish Tribeca district.

Back to Times Square and the vast crowds of local and out-of-town shoppers attest to the fact that for a significant number this is the current retail destination of choice.

Disney


The largest Disney store in the US opened in November with two floors and about 12,000 sq ft of selling space. The stats are noteworthy in their own right. The six letters forming the word Disney above the door weigh a little over 2,000lbs and the 65 ft-high digital screen above this is “the highest resolution screen on Times Square”, according to Disney spokeswoman Shawn Turner. This means that clips of everything from the Lion King to Toy Story can be shown in almost cinematic quality.

Inside, the relatively modestly sized ground floor is a showcase for plush toys and New York-themed Disney products - which form about 10% of the offer in this store. Head upstairs and if you’ve been to one of the larger Disney stores around Europe of late, there will be much that seems familiar: just bigger. This floor has high walls and where it would have been easy to leave the area above the perimeter shelving blank, a frieze with silhouettes of Disney characters cheek-by-jowl with familiar New York skyline icons ensures that the shopper’s eye will not be allowed to rest easy for a moment.

At the back of the floor is a 20 ft-high castle. This is only about 6 ft high in Madrid and contains magic mirrors that allow shoppers to wave a ‘magic’ (RFID) wand in front of them and conjure up short clips from Disney cartoons. The effect is immersive and even if you don’t care for Disney, you will want to have a look around.

Forever 21


The largest apparel store in Manhattan goes a long way towards disguising the fact that the products on its four floors (a large ground floor, a basement, a sub basement and a sub sub basement) are inexpensive. This store is about making cheap look upscale. It does this by creating interior vistas that remind you of other stores, although it may be hard to place them. There is, for instance, an area on one of the lower floors where brightly coloured merchandise is displayed on walls where the surface has been covered with wallpaper that takes the form of a thin black on white grid. A cynic might perhaps be inclined to remark that it looks more than a little like American Apparel. Or perhaps you might feel that the bookcase-style fixturing in another part of the store is reminiscent of Polo Ralph Lauren. And there are Topshop references almost everywhere.

Adeline Adeline


Finally, a store that aims to provide a non-threatening environment for female cyclists or women who might like to try it out. With a very simple shopfit and stock that is about top-end wicker basket cycling, there is a make-do-and-mend ambience about the enterprise.

It is also staffed by women instead of the dispatch rider manqué more normally found in an independent bike store. By virtue of its position, in the lower part of lower Manhattan, it is clearly also a destination as this is a store that you would not happen upon by accident. Like all the others visited, it opened in 2010.

See full article at Retail Week