Saks widens reach of new home department
Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 5/13/2002
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The facelift that the home department at Saks Fifth Avenue's New York City store underwent last fall — an expansion both of physical size and assortment — will extend to four other stores later this year, the company said. This will make seven locations within the 62-store chain that have adapted the concept of a broadened home department.
Its locations in Las Vegas; Houston; Troy, MI; and Beverly Hills, CA, will incorporate the new expanded home department this fall, according to the company.
In addition to New York, the Saks Fifth Avenue locations in McLean, VA, and Chicago also had their home departments renovated and enlarged last fall.
The new home department was launched at the New York flagship store last October, growing from a small space to a larger presence on the eighth floor. Expanding from 1,500 square feet to 6,200 square feet, the department grew its assortment in such textiles as bedding, throws and decorative pillows, and added hard categories like game tables, stereos and stationery. The department also was sectioned off into several living areas to model different design directions.
Though the Manhattan home department will typically be larger than in other locations, according to the company, in general, stores that incorporate the new home department will expand to around the same square footage. The company added that the new model is applicable for stores that are at least 100,000 square feet.
In addition, Saks Incorporated has announced that it will extend its Saks Fifth Avenue format to North Carolina for its first location in that state, scheduled to open to fall 2004.
The bi-level, 80,000 square foot store will be located in Raleigh, NC, at Triangle Town Center, a 1.3 million square foot super-regional retail center that is slated to open in August of this year.
The SFA store will offer its merchandise mix of designer apparel, jewelry, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances and SFA's collections, as well as an assortment of men's designer clothing, sportswear, formalwear and furnishings.
