The Shophound

More Christmas Creep: In Which We Are Further Annoyed By Barneys & Cartier

We are not really given to ranting that much over here at The Shophound, but last week we felt compelled to express our displeasure at seeing early Christmas decorations going up before Halloween at the Bloomingdale's flagship on 59^th Street. Well, Halloween has just passed, but its still too early, and we were disappointed to see that both Barneys and Cartier are also jumping the gun.
Let's clarify.
We don't want to see Christmas trees and tinsel until we do, and not a moment before.
It's like seeing someone in a gorgeous winter coat in September. You know someone can't wait to wear this fabulous thing, but no matter how stupendous it may be, it's still ridiculously out of season. That's how we felt about Barney's main floor yesterday (pictured above). We are actually excited about their "Saturday Night Live" inspired Holiday theme, we just don't want to see it until it's time.
As for Cartier (below with Saks), their decorations are the same as they are every year, so what's the rush? They stick out like quite the sore thumb at the moment.
Saks Fifth Avenue gets a reprieve. Although they already have their animated snowflake light show installed on the Fifth Avenue storefront, it isn't turned on, and the main floor, as of yesterday, is still happily free of Holiday décor.
Of the big stores we surveyed this week, only Bergdorf Goodman remains untouched by Holiday Elves. Though their current windows, created in conjunction with Dell Computers, are incredibly lavish, they are not in fact the store's Holiday windows, as some other bloggers had assumed.
When will we be ready for Holiday decorations?
The week before Thanksgiving at the earliest
So to recap:
It's still too early for Christmas decorations.
Gold Star for Bergdorf's. ★
Booby Prizes for Barneys and Cartier. ☹
That is all.
Previously:
Today In Jumping The Gun: In Which We Get Annoyed By Christmas In October

Fashion's NIght Out: Forget The Sales, It's Drinks For Everybody!

Click images for a larger view in a new window.

Fashion's Night Out is over and we are pooped. POOPED!
If the goal of the event was to get people into stores, then in Manhattan, at least, it succeeded wildly. Every shopping area we hit was busy, and some were downright teeming with people.
We started the evening after three runway shows and three presentations, so really, we would just as soon have stayed home, but that would have been shirking our duty, and if the designers are putting in extra effort, so should we.
We began at Saks, whose main floor was packed with surprisingly dressed-up customers. The entire store felt like it was a busy Saturday in high season, with particularly concentrated crowds on the sumptuously renovated, designer laden third floor. We made our way to 7 to meet our friend DJ Aaron Elvis who was spinning for Marc by Marc Jacobs with a martini and margarita bar in tow, and the drinking was in full swing.  As we were next off to SoHo, our friends from Marc urged us stop by their Mercer Street shop where we found the designer himself in his signature kilt with more cocktails and snacks. Between Marc, Vera Wang, Costume National and Marni, that particular block was a raging party scene.
Onward to Greene Street, where we had Champagne with our friends from PHI and met Creative Director Andreas Melbostad along with star of the runways Suvi Koponen, who is lovely and tall, especially in her PHI boots. We would have happily to spend the rest of the evening there, but there was more to see. SoHo in general was buzzing, and some stores like Intermix were forced to impose velvet ropes on the sidewalk like nightclubs (which kind of defeats the purpose of the event, does it not?)
A Bathing Ape had a line wrapped around the corner of Spring Street, but that happens there every other day. The new Original Penguin store celebrated its grand opening with live models in the window, and Opening Ceremony was a madhouse. Throngs waited on the sidewalk to get in, but even if you weren't ready to face that, there were vendors on the street like Band of Outsiders' Tie Truck, selling specially priced neckwear just for the evening. Perhaps no store was better suited to the evening that Jil Sander across the street, whose first level is basically empty display space, making an easy transition to stylish downtown bar. After a quick tour through Anna Sui's elaborate Target Pop-Up on Crosby Street where models played various "Gossip Girl" characters and we were on to the final phase of our evening.
The last leg of our tour took us up to the West Village, where we meant to stop in at John Bartlett, but as his tiny store was quite full, and our feet were starting to give out, we headed up Bleecker Street where Ralph Lauren's string of shops had people flocking and Marc by Marc Jacobs was offering customers their photographs taken with models.
Finally, Raindrops began to fall as the Meatpacking District loomed. Adam by Adam Lippes had a lounge-y vibe and giant searchlights rotating at the front door. Theory's huge flagship was packing them in and taking orders for young designer accessory lines, and Jeffrey had a crush at the door that was surely brought on by rumors of Hugh Jackman. Did we stick around? No. Could we have gotten if we had? Probably not, but our feet were thanking us for turning homeward as we passed the door lines at Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen at 10 PM.
Did the event translate into sales? We don't exactly know yet, but what we do know is that retailers and designers have learned that they now need to do more than just hang up the clothes and open their doors to get customers back shopping again, and open bars don't hurt.

More Collaboration Anticipation: Robert Geller x Levi's Coming To Bloomingdale's Next Month

If you can't wait until October for Jil Sander, there's another collaboration from a Teutonic designer coming our way September 10^th and it looks pretty appealing itself.
Robert Geller was named GQ's Best New Menswear Designer in America earlier this year, and in addition to the $50,000 cash prize came the opportunity to create a co-branded collection with Levi's. The workwear aesthetic is right in Geller's wheelhouse, and the results will be fully unveiled exclusively at twelve Bloomingdale's stores, Bloomingdales.com and seven Levi's stores (in New York, San Francisco, Miami Beach, Beverly Hills and Bucktown, Ill.).
Geller worked to customize and redesign classic items from the Levi's archive including a superslim 606 denim jean. Those looking for Levi's typically affordable prices will find that this collection will skew closer to Geller's luxury levels with jeans retailing for a super premium $275 and the collection topping out at $575 for a blanket lined parka. Though we remain mired in a designer collaboration glut, this one looks more than worthwhile. We expect the designer denim crowd to flock.
Robert Geller, Levi's to Unveil Men's Range (WWD)

Cintra Wilson Goes Shopping: Stranger In A Strange Land Edition

We are trying to imagine Cintra Wilson's visit to J.C. Penney. We are picturing a svelte black clad figure, perhaps in some sort of wasp-waisted suit, swanning through the aisles at Manhattan Mall like a curious alien marooned in Middle America.
We don't really know what La Cintra wore on her visit to the new Manhattan flagship-ette that she chronicled as Critical Shopper for tomorrow's Thursday Styles. We are not especially surprised, however, that she was not impressed with the vast chain's signature strategy of offering designer labels at mass market prices,

Behold: Nicole by Nicole Miller; Allen B. by Allen Schwartz (who the heck is Allen Schwartz?); Joe by Joseph Abboud in the men’s section, with sweater-vests for Dad; and — drumroll please — Liz & Co., an offshoot of Liz Claiborne, key provider of looks that say “I have been in a senior management position at this D.M.V. for 34 years.”

Predictably, the abundance of polyester does little to further endear the store to her, although she does acknowledge its generous sizing strategy in a backhandedly complimentary sort of way,

AND herein lies the genius of J.C. Penney: It has made a point of providing clothing for people of all sizes (a strategy, company officials have said, to snatch business from nearby Macy’s). To this end, it has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen. They probably need special insulin-based epoxy injections just to make their limbs stay on. It’s like a headless wax museum devoted entirely to the cast of “Roseanne.”

We think it's safe to say she won't be tempted to go back anytime soon.
Critical Shopper | J.C. Penney: Playing to the Middle By Cintra Wilson (NYTimes)
J.C. Penney 901 Sixth Avenue at 32nd Street, Midtown

Diffusion Du Jour: Saks Scores An Armani Exclusive

Few designers are as skillful at managing multiple collections at varying price points as Giorgio Armani. Ever since his premier diffusion line Emporio Armani was made available here during the 1980s, it has been one of the most sparingly distributed, sold only at Emporio Armani stores of which there are still only fourteen in the United States. Now that the label's licensed accessories have been distributed more widely, and the Beckhams have drawn huge awareness to the brand's underwear, the fine people at Armani have kindly informed us that Saks Fifth Avenue will now be the first retailer to launch the main Emporio Armani men's collection in seven stores starting around now. Those locations will include Fifth Avenue, Birmingham, Cincinnati, Dallas, Indianapolis, San Diego and Tyson's Corner Virginia outside of Washington DC. This is the sort of introduction that, in our humble observation, typically leads to a storewide rollout if successful, and could possibly push a similar expansion of the ladies' line.
The thought crossed our mind that this may be some consolation for the fact that, due to tight distribution and exclusivity conflicts, Saks has few (if any) stores that are permitted to sell the top Giorgio Armani Collection for men, though the women's counterpart is sold in several of it's branches including New York. Perhaps the folks at Armani are mollifying the folks at Saks, who have surely been anxious to add the top line for quite some time now. They may ultimately be better off with an even more exclusive label at gentler, far more appealing prices. We'll call it a coup.
Emporio Armani (Official Site)

JCPenney Opens: Hard Sell At The Soft Opening

It turns out that you won't have to wait until next Friday to shop at Manhattan's first JCPenney store. The doors (or rather the escalators) opened this morning for what retailers call a "soft" opening in advance of the "Grand" Opening on July 31st. It's kind of like a play being in previews, and we all know that that's when the critics write their reviews, so here goes.
For an immense national chain, this is a pretty small store, as we all expected. It is not a total full-line JCPenney branch, and there are little signs all over the store directing customers to JCPenney.com for a fuller selection of just about every product category. The compact space (yes, low ceilings as we expected) is packed to the gills with 550 sales associates. It's hard to really judge the store's service on day one when the place is crawling with executives from Plano, Texas, and the staff is in "opening day eager beaver" mode. The employees were even more solicitous than the kids at Hollister, greeting us incessantly, sometimes from across the department, and working hard to engage us. One associate from the custom decorating department even handed us a little package with a brochure, a pen and a business card before we even made it to her area.
We can't blame them. Penney's as a company prides itself on a high level of service. They were just doing their jobs considering all the scrutiny they were under, and presumably, when there are more customers and fewer executives in the store, the attention will be less oppressive. Naturally, the first couple of hours after an unannounced opening are not particularly busy, and it's possible that we saw the store as empty as it may ever be during business hours.
As for the merchandise, Penney's seems to be trying to compete more with Macy's than Sears, and now carries quite a few labels that were once mainstays a few blocks away, or are less expensive, exclusive lines from department store heavy hitters. It's aiming high, and even though Macy's isn't exactly directional when compared to the likes of Barneys, Penney's still has some work to do to challenge them on a fashion level.

Upcoming Openings: JCPenney Gets The Finishing Touches

Next Friday, JCPenney will become the third department store to inhabit part of the shell of what was once the mighty Gimbel's on Greely Square (yes, that's the block just below the somewhat more famous Herald Square). There's no hiding behind plywood for the store now, as visitors to Manhattan Mall can now peer down the atrium into what appears to be a mostly underground store. A peek to one side reveals the black and white striped walls of what will be the Sephora cosmetics concession, conveniently located near the entrance, while across the way, it looks like racks of clothes are already set up.
We still can't quite figure out the layout of this store. Obviously, it has consumed the two lower levels of the mall (goodbye food court!), and so we are concerned that this will create some kind of claustrophobic dungeon like the Penn Station Kmart. It hardly seems possible that the folks at Penney's would want to make anything less than a major splash with their first Manhattan store (They are from Texas, after all), but we can't help thinking that this might be some kind of puny underground JCPenney store. It even seemed like the A&S (and later Stern's) which was part of the mall's original Post-Gimbel's incarnation as A&S Plaza was bigger than what Penney's will open.
Today's WWD confirms that the 150,000  square foot store is smaller than the typical Penney's unit, but executives found the massive amounts of foot traffic from the subway station too hard to pass up. Can they make a low-ceilinged silk purse out of a sow's ear of a physical location?
We hope to have our suspicions proved wrong. With all the wonderful things we have here in Manhattan, we are still strangely deprived of many of the useful, mid-range stores that most of America takes for granted. We are looking forward to finally getting a good look at the Ralph Lauren produced American Living house brand, among other things.
We must applaud JCPenney's bravery in choosing a site that has seen no less than three major department stores bite the dust, and we are anticipating seeing just how they plan to beat their previous inhabitants' curses.

Today In Renovations: Ralph Lauren Gets A New Look At Bloomingdale's

The revamped Men's Department at Bloomingdale's is almost finished, and a major component was revealed last week as a new shop-in-shop for Ralph Lauren made its début. The cluttery, sprawling Polo shop that lived in the store's basement had been one of the designer's largest in-store boutiques anywhere, and sported a combination of his "country store" look and the more elegant ornate dark wood décor that was originally inspired by his Rhinelander Mansion flagship at Madison Avenue and 72^nd Street that opened more than 20 years ago.
These styles have been dutifully duplicated in department stores and Polo Shops countless times in the ensuing years, so when it was time to redo the space at Bloomingdale's, a refreshing left turn was taken that could signal a sweeping new look for Lauren at retail. The space has been moved south the the 59^th street side of the floor, and an exclusive, exterior entrance is being built. Gone are the elaborate carvings and oriental carpets. There is still lots of wood, but now it's present in sleek, modern panels accented with brushed steel and stone floors. The product, meticulously placed as always by Polo's roving team of merchandisers, once carefully tucked and squeezed into every available crevice and garnished with all manner of vintage gear is now allowed room to breathe on shelves and tables where customers can actually examine and handle it without disturbing an artfully composed display. Reportedly, the new look is based on a recently opened Ralph Lauren store in Moscow, though it ironically recalls the second, more contemporary Madison Avenue flagship (once known as Polo Sport) across from the Mansion that was demolished last year to make room for a larger, more typical Edwardian style building being constructed to serve as a Women's store. Regardless of the inspiration, it's a welcome update from what had become a clichéd visual style. Also gone is the word "Polo" from the signage, which now reads simply "Ralph Lauren". While the word naturally remains on labels, the space now includes the designer's more contemporary and expensive Black Label men's line, a new addition since the renovation. Clearly, the more modern upper brand is now setting the pace.
In other Bloomingdale's news, The street level renovations have been completely finished only to reveal that much of what was once the Men's Store has been given over to Women's jewelry and accessories! Presumably, the lost space will be recovered downstairs when Ralph's former digs (now behind plywood) are reconfigured to flow with the rest of the department. For now, underwear and pajamas exist uneasily next to designer sportswear lines.
Also new is a main floor boutique for fabled British shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser which the store is touting as the label's first in-store shop at an American department store.
Uh, yeah, if you conveniently forget about the one that Bergdorf Goodman operated for decades before the company opened its own shop on 57^th street.
Oops.
Or is Bergdorf's not a department store anymore?
Ralph Lauren Men's at Bloomingdale's, 1000 Third Avenue at 59^th Street, East Side

The Mayor & Vogue Team Up To Save Retail With Shopping Parties

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, Anna Wintour and a host of designers and retail executives appeared en masse to announce "Fashion's Night Out" in conjunction with the CFDA and NYC & Co. this fall to boost retail traffic in stores across the country without promoting markdowns. The program will include stores in 12 major cities on the evening of Thursday, September 10, just as Fashion Week begins. Stores will be challenged to create special events to draw customers into stores that evening. The event is to be extended internationally to all major cities where an edition of "Vogue" is based, and Wintour told WWD that the concept will be interpreted in each city to best represent the local cultures.
So far, few specific events that will be staged in New York have been announced, although Phillip Lim promises a live band in his Soho store, and Barneys seems to be arranging something to do with knitting classes. eventually, a website, Fashionsnighout.com, will be set up to detail specific events.
Knitting's always a big draw, right.
We certainly hope this works. It sounds like a lot of work, and we are pretty sure that most designers are kind of super-extra busy already on the eve of Fashion Week. In fact several runway shows and presentations are usually scheduled for that evening.
Here's what we know for sure: There are really only a few things that can be counted on to get customers into stores besides sales, and they are celebrities, free food and booze.
Get those bars set up early.
Calling All Shoppers: 12 Cities Plan Major Retail Initiative (WWD)
To Stimulate Retail, A Fashion Night Out (NYTimes/City Room)
Mayor Bloomberg Teams Up With Vogue for Fashion’s Night Out (The Cut)

Nordstrom Likely To Hit Manhattan ...But Not The Way You Expect

WWD is reporting today that Nordstrom is thisclose to taking a substantial portion of the soon-to-be vacated Virgin Megastore space on Union Square It won't be for a full line store however. The lower level is said to be under consideration for a Nordstrom Rack, the chain's growing outlet division.
Most big chains like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue are looking to their discount clearance outlet divisions (Last Call and Off 5^th, respectively) to bolster business as their regular stores struggle. Nordstrom's outlet is no stranger to the area. There are Rack stores circling the city in Paramus, New Jersey, White Plains and Westbury, New York. Nordstrom also quietly owns Jeffrey in the Meatpacking District and operated the Façonnable boutique on Fifth Avenue until it sold the brand a few years ago.
While this move is something of a surprise, since the Seattle based department store chain has long been rumored to be searching for a suitable site for a Manhattan flagship, it is understandable given the current climate.
It looks like Manhattan will have to wait a bit longer for its own proper Nordstrom store, but, in fairness, there isn't exactly a burning demand for one at this very moment.
Nordstrom Eyes Manhattan Rack Unit (WWD)