Saks Fifth Avenue's new shoe only format

It's no secret that shoes are a big part of Saks Fifth Avenue's business. Shoes are so major for Saks that they are opening their first freestanding shoe only store. Modeled after their 10022 shoe salon at their Manhattan flagship location, Saks' first shoe only store will open in Greenwich, Connecticut in fall 2016.

The new site located at 20 East Elm Street is a staggering 14,000 square feet, and will be around the block from the Saks Fifth Avenue women's only location at 20 Greenwich Avenue. 11,000 square feet will be used for selling, while the remaining 3,000 square feet will be used for storage. The new shoe store, which has yet to be named, will only carry women's shoes.

The Greenwich store will no longer stock women's shoes. Saks has yet to disclose the vendor lineup, but it is Saks after all, so, customers can expect an impressive list of designer offerings. With the relocation of their shoe offerings to a new store, Saks will now have an extra 4,000-square-feet in their Greenwich Avenue store that they will be able to use for ready-to-wear.

Saks opening new shoe salon in Greenwich, Connecticut

Marc Metrick, President of Saks Fifth Avenue, is still working with his team to come up with a name for the new shoe store, but he has assured that "the concept will certainly be 10022-shoe." Saks began elevating its power in the shoe market in 2007 when they unveiled 10022-shoe at their Manhattan flagship store, doubling the number of shoes they offer, and really focusing on major luxury brands like Gucci and Prada. Saks has become a go-to destination for designer shoes in New York City.

The 10022-shoe format is the reason behind the so called "shoe wars" in Manhattan, where department stores including Saks, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys New York began opening bigger shoe departments and expanding their selections to compete with each other, thus making New York City's designer shoe market arguably one of the most competitive in the world. To ensure that they'd stay ahead of the curve, Saks has one elevator in their flagship store as an express elevator to the eighth floor where the 10022-shoe salon is housed. They also offer a VIP room for private shopping and a shoe repair service.

Thanks to Saks Fifth Avenue's marketing team's marketing ploy with the U.S. Postal Service, the 10022-shoe salon in their flagship store has its own zip-code. As other department stores like Macy's and Barneys New York began to expand their shoe sections, Saks expanded their shoe salon from 22,000 square feet to 32,150 square feet, with 16,650 square feet for selling and 15,500 square feet for storage. The expansion brought the entire women's assortment — designer, wear, contemporary, day, and evening — all onto the eighth floor, with contemporary relocating from the fifth floor.

Some of the offerings in the 10022-shoe salon include Jimmy Choo, Brian Atwood, Gucci, Prada, Giuseppe Zanotti, Roger Vivier, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Fendi, Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Alexander Birman, just to name a few. Metrick has said that the shoe format could be recreated for future stores depending on how they do with their new Greenwich store. “We are definitely looking at [Greenwich] as a learning experience. I do believe this will not be our only one,” Metrick was quoted saying to WWD.

Photo:secondcitystyle.com