After nearly a decade in the making, Nordstrom is set to open its Manhattan Flagship store on Oct. 24. And in the lead up to that launch, the retailer is staffing up.
Nordstrom is hiring for nearly 1,200 positions to support its New York expansion. On Monday, the company posted a number of new positions across a variety of job boards and on its own site, including posts for customer service representatives, sales associates, stylists and visual merchandisers.
The company has also announced two multi-day hiring events in New York City’s garment district to take place later this summer. Candidates will have a chance to meet with Nordstrom recruiters from August 15-17 and from August 26-28.
The new flagship will be located on the first seven stories of the Central Park Tower near Columbus Circle, owned by Extell Development Company. The 320,000-square-foot store reportedly cost $500 million to build.
The store will complement Nordstrom’s critically acclaimed men’s store, which opened across the street in spring of 2018. In a city so highly inundated with retail, where even legacies like Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue struggle to keep their doors open, the 47,000-square-foot investment was an audacious one. Combining its universally-lauded customer service with a product assortment that ranges from niche luxury to accessible and affordable, the store has struck a winning chord with the men’s set in Manhattan.
In May of this year, the retailer opened two convenience-based service hubs in the West Village and Upper East Side. Nordstrom Local stores are designed to be uniquely reflective of the neighborhoods they inhabit, with flexible floor plans and varied services. All provide easy access to tailoring and alterations, styling, returns and pickups for online orders.
The local hubs were first introduced in Los Angeles in 2017, starting with the trendy, upscale Melrose neighborhood and expanding to Brentwood and Downtown locations in 2018. The ventures provided proof of concept for the company, which rationalized that consumers in large, metropolitan cities largely end up orbiting their homes and offices in a bid to avoid traffic, or in the case of New Yorkers, packed subway cars.
“Whether it’s in New York or L.A., getting from point A to point B can really be a challenge,” said Nordstrom CMO Scott Medden at an event last fall. He pointed out that flagship stores are typically are located in downtown shopping districts, while Nordstrom Local stores were conceived to provide services “closer to home.”