One of New York City’s most famous department stores reconfigured its sales floor for a new footwear-focused era in luxury.
By uniting its men’s footwear space with the other men’s floors and increasing its overall selling space by 60 percent, Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship location completely overhauled its men’s footwear department and greatly expanded the assortment—including 15 luxury brands new to Saks—along with a larger array of personalization options.
The updated floor space is just the latest in a line of overhauls at the luxury retailer’s Fifth Avenue location, an initiative it calls the “Grand Renovation.”
“Saks Fifth Avenue is stepping up our men’s fashion game with the opening of our new shoe experience, representing another milestone in our New York City flagship’s Grand Renovation,” Marc Metrick, president of Saks Fifth Avenue, said in a statement.
“Luxury footwear is the gateway for men’s customers into fashion and the new shoe experience is just the beginning of exciting things to come for our menswear offering,” Metrick added. “Men’s is a growing category at Saks, where we have seen a consistently positive customer response both in our stores and online. We are continuing to redefine the luxury shopping experience while giving our customers another compelling reason to shop with Saks.”
The new selling floor will be 8,000 square feet in total, with space for upwards of 2,000 individual SKUs. With 160 different styles, a shoe repair station, 30 multilingual shoe “Style Advisors” and merchandise personalization, Saks Fifth Avenue intends for the space to become a destination for fans of luxury footwear.
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Of course, a retailer would be nowhere without its brands. The updated selling floor will open with over 60 luxury brands, offering traditional luxury footwear (and more casual styles, like sneakers) from brands including Balenciaga, Dior, Off-White, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace and plenty of others.
“We have created one of the largest men’s shoe destinations in the country, featuring an expansive merchandise assortment and unparalleled service offerings,” Tracy Margolies, the chief merchant at Saks Fifth Avenue, explained. “Featuring the best of men’s luxury footwear, from edgy streetwear sneakers to refined made-to-measure dress shoes and boots, the new shoe experience exemplifies Saks Fifth Avenue’s elevated fashion point of view.
“We are confident that the overall presentation and exceptional services will further elevate our clients’ shopping experience, bringing the ‘New Luxury‘ to life through a focus on individuality, personalization and ease,” Margolies added.
Part of that “New Luxury” is the addition of made-to-order kiosks and services at the location, highlighted by Aglit Italy’s lace personalization bar, made-to-order shoes from brands like Pierre Corthay and Ermenegildo Zegna and a “leather spa” for shoe shining and repair. On Aug. 8, the retailer will host local designers, Upscale Vandal and Puma, for the launch of Alexander & John’s new sneaker.
Of course, luxury products need luxury surroundings, so the Saks store planning and design team brought in Highland Associates, an engineering and interior design firm, to create the architecture and design plans for the selling floor.
Highlights include a new blackened metal and stone staircase to lead shoppers to other men’s floors, custom screen-fitted chandeliers for seasonal advertisements and large mirrored columns that add “depth” and “drama” to the space, according to the retailer.
In September 2019, Saks will introduce the next update in the Grand Renovation: a project known only as “the Vault.”