Bergdorf Goodman adding two new floors

Bergdorf Goodman is moving on up higher in the sky. The luxury department store has announced that they will be opening an eighth and ninth floor at their women's store, expected to be completed in 2020. As a result, they will be relocating their executive offices and back-of-house functions to a new adjacent space at 4 West 58th Street above the Paris Theater.

According to Joshua Schulman, president of Bergdorf Goodman, this is the biggest expansion that the store has seen since 1967. That was the same year the store pressured one of their tenants, The Tailored Woman, which occupied the corner at 57th Street and 5th Avenue, to close.

This new expansion is part of the BG 20/20 plan, which is helping the store expand their physical retail presence in addition to their digital retail presence. The BG 20/20 plan began in September with the unveiling of their renovated sixth floor for contemporary designers called Modernist Collection. On December 13, a new jewelry salon will open on the redesigned first floor, which now has its own entrance and dedicated windows on 57th Street. The rest of the first floor is expected to be renovated by 2016 to become a series of salons for luxury handbags.

Bergdorf Goodman expanding women's store with two new floors

Bergdorf's is usually very guarded about revealing their sales figures, but industry sources have reported that as an entire enterprise, the store has revenue sales of around 750 million dollars a year. These renovations are expected to help propel their revenue figures to the 1 billion dollar mark. It has yet to be revealed what products will be carried in the new space.

The company is expected to focus on their fastest growing categories and plan the new retail according to those categories.

The service model at Bergdorf Goodman, which has always been very clientele focused, is expected to be revamped as well. A representative for Bergdorf Goodman wasn't immediately available to comment on how the service model would change, but Schulman told WWD that "We’re reinventing fitting rooms and how we work with international clients. All these things are being done in conjunction with a significant investment on the digital side. We have one store available worldwide. Investment in the icon is driving the brand.”

Bergdorf's has long been a symbol of tradition in fashion luxury and exclusivity as there is only one in the world, but as e-commerce and the democratization of fashion have progressed, they have stayed in tune with the times. While they will never stop working to keep their core customer happy, they are also looking forward to the needs and demands of their future customer.

photo:wikipedia.org