Dive Brief:
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Saks Fifth Avenue is opening a retail shoe store, Women’s Wear Daily reports.
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The iconic department store’s expansive shoe department is famous in its own right, and carries its own zip code at the retailer’s flagship New York City store.
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The 11,000 square-foot store (smaller than the department in New York) will open in Greenwich, CT, in about a year.
Dive Insight:
Many department stores have brought in more concessions and pop-ups from other successful retailers to attract younger shoppers and, in a way, import success. Now Saks Fifth Avenue is flipping that script, spinning off one of its departments to its own retail store. It’s something that Nordstrom, also known for its shoe department, could emulate if it proves to be a successful strategy.
Saks Fifth Avenue is getting a lot of attention from new parent Hudson Bay Co, which is working to recapture the department store’s dazzling upscale reputation. But while the flagship has had the benefit of a renovation and a more clear pivot to luxury and upscale offerings, it’s the retailer’s off-price spin-off, Off 5th, that has seen the greatest success of late. Same-store sales at Saks Fifth Avenue were 2.6%, and 12.1% at Off 5th.