Bergdorf Goodman poised for major interior design overhaul

The emperor of all that is luxury department stores, the iconic Bergdorf Goodman, has some very major plans for a huge makeover. Of course, the public wants to know, what can be expected from the department store known for having the best visual window displays arguably in the world, what could possibly be done next?

For starters, their entire sixth floor is already under construction, and it has already been completely stripped of all of its merchandise. It’s the first complete renovation Bergdorf Goodman has done in decades, but the secret is that Bergdorf Goodman is also about taking their store and entire company into a new era right now, hence the renovation, which is just a small part of their plans to take Bergdorf Goodman into the second half of the decade.

The plan is part of what is referred to as BG 20/20, a five-year plan that will help not only renovate and update their women’s store, but also revolutionize their e-commerce endeavors by revamping bergdorfgoodman.com. Some of the details of this plan so far include, but certainly aren’t limited to, “Modernist Collections” on the sixth floor with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s brand The Row as the anchor (fitting since The Row is also opening a flagship in NYC this year, and is sure to be on everyone’s must-have list), as well as designers the likes of Donna Karan, Narcisco Rodriguez, and Derek Lam, a so-called “Lab” to spotlight emerging designers (perfect since Bergdorf’s is usually a fixture at up and coming designers show at NYFW), reconfiguring the floor to delineate fine jewelry from leather goods and accessories, having a “store within a store” concept for jewelry making it accessible on the 57th Street side, and a “grand hall” for leather goods accessible off the Fifth Avenue Entrance that will extend back and north to the 58th Street entrance.

Bergdorf Goodman’s sixth floor to see major renovations

As you can tell Bergdorf Goodman is pulling out all of the stops, and is sparing not one grain of palatial luxury in transforming their store. When you are arguably the most luxurious department store in the entire world you have plenty to live up to. Of course, this is just the plan for their brick-and-mortar operations, e-commerce has its share of overhauling to be done as well.

In the past, the merchandising of Bergdorfgoodman.com had always been done by the Neiman Marcus direct buyers. Well, they can shake off that responsibility and pass it over to Bergdorf’s store buyers. Effective as of pre-fall 2015, 70 percent of the online merchandise will be bought by the store’s buyers. Bergdorf’s feels it has a lot of catching up to do with their online business, although they aren’t doing too shabby. Last November, the company began international shipping through Borderfree, which helps companies work with different currencies and other nuts and bolts involved in international shipping. It’s now possible to receive your luxurious Bergdorf Goodman products in approximately 150 countries.

One of the most pivotal aspects to this overhaul was to ensure that Bergdorf Goodman would stay one step ahead of their competition. With Nordstrom planning to open a shop in New York City in 2016, and Saks Fifth Avenue planning a 250 million dollar overhaul of their flagship, in addition to a new downtown location, the luxury department store market is poised to get pretty competitive in New York City in the coming years, and if there is one secret to success it’s always be better than your competition.

Bergdorf Goodman recently renovated their men’s store across the street, and while the luxury department store realizes it has no room left to grow square footage wise it’s attempting to put all the space they have to better use. It’s all part of their plan to help Bergdorf Goodman sales crack 1 billion dollars, compared to last year’s 750 million dollars. The public won’t have to wait too long to see the fruits of Bergdorf Goodman’s labor either. The renovated “Modernist” shop will be open to the public come April of this year. With plans to have a completely new looking store in the next five years, Bergdorf’s is going to work. Bergdorf Goodman President, Joshua Shulman, was quoted in Women’s Wear Daily saying, “This is a five-year plan, altering a substantial amount of the store. We will keep the historic architecture and the classical bones but really modernize the shopping experience.” It’s a whole new Bergdorf’s, and it sure is looking quite pretty.