CASE STUDY

Nordstrom Launches Its Bold New Flagship Store In the Heart of New York City. Nordstrom’s New York Flagship store occupies the first seven stories of what will soon be the tallest residential building in the country. When completed, the Central Park Tower located at 57th Street near Columbus Circle will top out at 1,550 feet. In addition to the Women’s Store, the 363,000 sq. ft. store in the Central Park Tower also houses Nordstrom’s corporate administrative office and training facility.

Nordstrom creates its unique shopping experience by combining superb customer service with exciting modern store design. The new flagship store utilizes an all-glass facade to bring in more natural light and an open, flexible floor plan. With so much excitement generated around the design elements used to create a harmonious shopping environment, it made sense to utilize the same principles for the design of the administrative office.

Image: Courtesy of Nordstrom.

THE DESIGN
To give the office the combination of airy openness and functional performance Nordstrom was trying to achieve, Ted Moudis Associates used the Moodwall P2 demountable glass wall system and Modernfold Encore operable partition. Approximately 80 linear feet of Moodwall single-glazed glass encloses the offices and huddle rooms allowing plenty of natural light from outside to enter the individual workspaces while still providing a sense of privacy. Moodwall’s postless mitred corners, clear anodized aluminum framing and frameless glass doors with 60-inch ladder pulls provide the sleek, modern look the retailer was seeking.

To maximize the flexibility of the space, a Modernfold Encore operable partition was installed between the training room and the main office. The 16 ft. x 10 ft. partition transforms the large rectangular space into a high performance training room. The paired panels, fitted with a full-height marker board finish, offer great versatility as both a writing surface and a projection screen while a 54 STC rating ensures sound from the training classes does not disturb employees in the adjacent office. A convenient pass-thru door panel lets employees easily enter and exit the classroom allowing the Encore panels to remain in position for long periods of time during training sessions.

At a time when many retailers are pulling back from the brick-and-mortar store model, Nordstrom is confidently launching its new Manhattan flagship store. The Moodwall P2 glass wall system and the Modernfold Encore acoustic partition provided the right combination of transparent, modern aesthetics and space flexibility Nordstrom sought for its new corporate office and training facility.

Nordstrom’s first stand-alone Men’s Store is now open. The Women’s Store, which will be located across the street, is set to open Fall 2019 completing its main Manhattan Flagship Store.