Neiman Marcus adds mobile phone charging stations

For those of you who have attended New York Fashion Week, the phone charging stations are treated like secret pillars of worship. When we are on the go from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for an entire week at a time, it is vital that our phones remained charged. Perhaps someone at Neiman Marcus realized the virtue of the phone charging station, and whispered in the ear of someone at the company's corporate ladder.

The luxury department store chain has begun installing phone charging stations in store locations nationwide as of last week. By September 30, 30 of the company's 42 locations are expected to have these stations.

The stations were made by Philadelphia-based ChargeItSpot, who designed the stations to match each stores aesthetic. Initial testing of the feature came to Bergdorf Goodman in 2014 then Neiman Marcus in 2015 with a very positive response.

Customers can lock their phone in one of eight mobile lockers, which lock using the customer's mobile number. While the service is free, it also presents the opportunity for Neiman Marcus to capture the customer's email address as part of a marketing touchpoint.

“One thing I think Neiman’s does is have their associates engage with tech. Every associate has an iPhone and is tapped into what is happening in technology in stores,” said ChargeItSpot Founder and ceo Douglas Baldasare to WWD. “So many stores get new technologies and don’t know how to digest it or introduce it to the customer.”

Gone are the days of Neiman Marcus shoppers complaining about dead phones. Now, what other department stores will follow this trend?