The seven-story Nordstrom flagship at the base of Central Park Tower, aka 217 West 57th Street, is finally open for business. Thursday, October 24 marked the official opening of the massive 320,000-square-foot store, its largest in New York. The main doors are located along West 57th Street underneath the wavy, transparent glass curtain wall. James Carpenter Design Associates is the designer for the store, collaborating with Nordstrom’s inhouse design team to work with architects, CallisonRTKL. Extell is the developer of the 1,550-foot-high Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed supertall. This is the first portion of the property that is finished.
Looking up at Central Park Tower from Broadway. Photo by Michael Young
The West 57th Street facade. Photo by Michael Young
Through the revolving doors is a clear passageway with extremely high and bright ceilings and access to the escalators that take shoppers two stories below street level and five above ground.
The large escalator atrium. Photo by Michael Young
The large escalator atrium. Photo by Michael Young
The Broadway entrance to Nordstrom. Photo by Michael Young
The ground floor. Photo by Michael Young
The ground floor. Photo by Michael Young
The ground floor. Photo by Michael Young
The lower level. Photo by Michael Young
The Shoe Bar one level below the ground floor. Photo by Michael Young
Hani Pacific and Oh Mochi Donuts on the lowest level. Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Handbags on the ground floor. Photo by Michael Young
Handbags on the ground floor. Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Each level has a number of bold and striking displays as well as large-scale commissioned artwork. Most are found near the escalators, which also have mannequins suspended from the ceiling. The Nordstrom app allows people to take a virtual tour of the store and the original art pieces.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Nordstrom provides a wide range of services and amenities at the site such as in-store pick-up, 24/7 express services, three-hour same-day delivery, express return kiosks at the flagship, a Face Gym and Drybar, personal stylists and beauty needs at the Nordstrom Beauty Haven, style boards, Nordy Club Rewards, tailoring and express alterations, a shoe and handbag repair station, on-site cell phone charging, free Wi-Fi, complimentary gift boxes, and Nordstrom gift cards.
A collection of food and beverage choices are scattered throughout the complex. James Beard Award nominee chef Ethan Stowell is bringing the first Wolf location to the east coast with Italian-inspired small plates, located on the third floor. James Beard Award recipient chef Tom Douglas is the head of Jeannie’s, which will serve pizza, pasta, and salad on the lower level, and operate next to Pacific Rim-inspired cuisine at Hani Pacific. The Broadway Bar is a cocktail bar on the third level that serves drinks and small bites. Bistro Verde is on the fifth floor and will open next year as a family-friendly option with al fresco dining. The Shoe Bar is found one floor below street level and is centered among a plethora of designer brand shoes.
Other interesting parts of the store include a Nike pop-up called Nordstrom X Nike, and a Burberry pop-up with a pink-colored, faux cafe display complete with tables, chairs, and dim lighting.
The rest of Central Park Tower should be completed sometime next year.
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Nice ad.
Yes, it is a bit of an ad, but if this store helps the pendulum in NYC swing back even a bit from online to actually going out to a store, then it is a very good thing..
That’s a very good point you’ve made.
Pardon me for using your space:
Looks just like the new mall at Hudson Yards.
(Thank to Michael Young)
Wow, they must have spent at least $50,000 on all that white drywall…
I know, right?! WAAAYYYY too much white! Looks sterile and cold. They could’ve done so much with the wall (and floor) colors in there.
Shoebar that’s fubar
The store appears to continue down 57th Street, to Broadway, where there seems to be another entrance, across the street from the existing Nordstrom Men. Does anyone know if it required the air rights, from the entire collection of buildings, to create the Tower, and will these other structures remain integrated into the retail space, on an ongoing basis?
Grim
What great fortune for Nordstrom to open right now. This could have been a white elephant with the trends in retail since they announced, but instead they open right as Barney’s is shutting down and are poised to take over that market.
Nordstrom stores on the west coast are terrific but the Men’s store at 57th street was awful when I visited.
Awful.. meaning…?
Funny how in today’s era where so many stores are closing down, they open this smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. Let’s see how long they last in business…
Keep building higher!! Amazing that in NYC one thing is moving forward. Get rid of DeBlasio this looting,& violent protests NYC will thrive.
Just wish a different cladding design had been chosen. It’s evocative of corrugated, transparent plastic roof sheeting stood on end. And it’s probably armored glass and cost a tidy amount but doesn’t look expensive. One can understand a desire to avoid a flat plane, traditional façade but if it was meant to connote class, it doesn’t cut it. Shades of the emperor’s new clothes perhaps? Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s changed out for something truly elegant within ten years, tops.
So glad midtown/uptown has gotten re-energized with this type of design/retail so going downtown or to Hudson Yards isn’t a must. I come out of the design world and have seen many of the retail stores either close shop or just move south and or southwest.
Thank you Nordstroms!
The new Billionaires’ Row Nordstrom, Apple’s new flagship store on Fifth Avenue, the new MoMA – all have this clean, white, white, and more white aesthetic. I don’t dislike them, but I wonder if they will feel dated soon.
What do you expect. James Carpenter is a renown glass artist and thinks like one. The lighting looks wonderful, but as a design newbie, he has no experience with this kind of project and it shows. Bland
Now that Barney’s New York has gone out of business we have Nordstrom still standing even bigger and similar to sears tower [Willis Tower] correction lets see how this goes.