The beauty of shopping at a store with more than one location is you know what products you’ll find – shopping Uptown, Downtown or out of town. Not so in SoHo.
The booming shopping area has lately become home to the top specialty chains and designer boutiques including Chanel, Emporio Armani and Polo.
But instead of merchandising the stores in a fashion similar to their Uptown cousins, retailers are taking a more trendy, edgy approach.
“We take a more item-y approach to ready-to-wear,” said Chanel’s Barbara Cirkva, executive vice president for fashion. “There’s more of an edge to it. We focus on separates and sportswear pieces.”
“In SoHo, the customers are young – it’s a hip area, so we choose to put young collections in the store,” said Christian Bagnoud, U.S. marketing director for H&M, which opened on Broadway last month.
“This store is focused on fashion,” he continued, a feeling the neighborhood fosters.
“You can feel it when you walk in the area. Look at Broadway and the businesses there – they are very oriented to fashion.”
Emporio Armani, which opened on West Broadway last week, also carries an edgier assortment.
“Emporio Armani SoHo is smaller than the other Emporio Armani stores in Manhattan,” said a company spokesperson. “SoHo has become a shopping destination for the customer looking for ‘Downtown’ style. It made sense to offer the most fashion-oriented segments of the collection at the SoHo store.”
Chanel’s Cirkva also believes the feel of the SoHo streets affects the way people shop.
“Shopping in SoHo is more impulse-oriented,” she said. “There’s a festival feeling in SoHo – you feel like you’re playing at the restaurants and shops. You’re not going down there with a motive. It is more about the impulse for something like strappy sandals.”
However, she admits, merchandising the SoHo store – which opened last fall – has been a learning experience.
“You can never outguess the customer. We thought this would be more of an accessories and shoe store, but sales are 40 percent apparel,” the same at the Chanel store on 57th Street. “Never try to prejudge the customer.”