Saks Fifth Avenue Unveils New Main Floor, Latest Phase Of New York Flagship Grand Renovation

- The new main floor renovation triples the location's handbag assortment

- Introduces expansive experience with an OMA/Rem Koolhaas-designed escalator connecting main, second and lower levels

- Opens in conjunction with L'Avenue at Saks--new Parisian upscale in-store dining experience

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Feb 05, 2019, 08:30 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Saks Fifth Avenue today opens one of the largest luxury handbag destinations in New York City, furthering the grand renovation of its Fifth Avenue flagship. The expansive 53,000-square-foot main floor of the New York Flagship triples the handbag department selling space which includes more than 50 brands —14 of which are new to the store. As part of the unprecedented experience, the store boasts an OMA/Rem Koolhaas-designed escalator, connecting the main floor to the Beauty floor on two, which was renovated last year, and to the Vault, a high-end jewelry experience, on the Lower Level to be unveiled later this year. Saks Service Advisors dedicated to guiding clients through the store, handbag Style Advisors with multi-brand product knowledge, and year-round merchandise personalization create an innovative and unparalleled customer experience.

SAKS FIFTH AVENUE UNVEILS NEW MAIN FLOOR, LATEST PHASE OF NEW YORK FLAGSHIP GRAND RENOVATION

"The opening of our reimagined main floor is another milestone in our Grand Renovation that offers our customers a modern and expansive experience the moment they walk through the doors. This combined with the opening of L'Avenue at Saks, our new in-store dining experience, epitomizes The New Luxury, centered on individuality, personalization and ease," said Marc Metrick, President, Saks Fifth Avenue. "The new handbag floor reinforces Saks' position as a fashion authority with an exceptional offering. Seamless access between our dominant handbag presentation, revolutionary beauty experience on the second floor, and the upcoming Vault on the lower level reinforces our New York City flagship as a one-of-a-kind luxury destination with unparalleled service and merchandise."

"We have created a luxury handbag shopping experience unlike any other in New York City -- the new main floor at Saks Fifth Avenue offers an unprecedented assortment and world-class service. To celebrate the opening we worked closely with our partners to create over 100 exclusive products specifically for our customers," said Tracy Margolies, Chief Merchant, Saks Fifth Avenue. "The size and scale of the new main floor enables us to showcase the best handbag and accessory designers in the world, demonstrating Saks Fifth Avenue's strong fashion point of view. We are confident that the overall presentation, including high-design shop-in-shops combined with personalization and customization services will truly surprise and delight our customers."

STORE DESIGN
The new main floor is the latest milestone in the New York Flagship's Grand Renovation. Saks Fifth Avenue's new business model has reimagined the department store concept with the revolutionary migration of beauty to the second floor in May 2018, allowing for the handbag and leather goods assortment to triple in size on the main floor. The Saks Store Planning and Design team, in collaboration with Gensler, spearheaded the renovation of the iconic space, updating it for the modern customer.

The main floor boasts an OMA/Rem Koolhaas-designed escalator, created by OMA in collaboration with Saks Fifth Avenue Planning and Design. The iridescent dichroic film coated escalators are stacked with open views through the store, visually and physically linking the first two floors, while changing colors as visitors travel between levels. The configuration of the escalators creates a diamond-shaped atrium connecting the main floor with beauty and jewelry on 2 for ease of traffic flow.

Main Floor highlights include:

A new atrium uniting the main floor with beauty and jewelry on 2 features a multimedia large-scale installation centered by a 60' by 20' LED screen
Custom terrazzo flooring from Italy along with transparent and opaque high-design fixturing guides the customer procession down runway-inspired aisles
Folded metal origami inspired tables and glass fixtures built with two-way mirrors
Experiential installations to be housed in 600 square feet of flex space

BRAND HIGHLIGHTS
The floor features a curated mix of top luxury brands including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Celine, CHANEL, Chloé, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Gucci, Loewe, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Moynat, Nancy Gonzalez, Prada, Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, The Row, Valentino and more.

With over 100 merchandise exclusives created to celebrate the opening of the main floor, the space is the premier destination in New York City for luxury handbags, leather goods, travel and soft accessories.

Additional brand highlights include:

CHANEL's largest handbag shop in a multi-brand retailer in North America
Moynat's first iconic space in a multi-brand retailer
Saks SVNR (pronounced souvenir) merchandise launch, includes novelty totes, keychains, hats, umbrellas, belts, books, pins, postcards and more inspired by New York City

SERVICES AND EXPERIENCES
As we reimagine the customer's interaction with our Flagship Store, the new main floor features multilingual Saks Service Advisors (non-selling, 20 in total), dedicated to navigate clients through the building, Handbag Style Advisors (50 in total) with multi-brand product knowledge, and dedicated brand-specific representatives in each vendor shop.

The New York Flagship will host a series of in-store and online personalization events while also offering year-round customization from select brands, featuring monogramming, embossing, hand stamping, artwork, graffiti and more, all of which free of charge with purchase. Upcoming special experiences include Logan Real monogramming and hand-painting merchandise on February 8 and 9; Jaydee Studios hand-painting infused with pop culture references and focused on women's empowerment from February 8 to 9 and 15 to 17; and ROYCE providing hand-stamping using classic embossing on February 10 - 24, among additional experiences.

Saks New York is located at 611 Fifth Avenue at 50th Street, and is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For additional information on the new location and upcoming experiences, visit the Saks New York store and events page on saks.com.

GRAND RENOVATION OVERVIEW
The opening of the main floor is the latest step in Saks' New York flagship $250 million Grand Renovation, and follows:

L'Avenue at Saks, an upscale Parisian dining experience in store designed by Philippe Starck; the destination marks the first venture for L'Avenue outside Paris (February 2019)
Beauty on 2, an experiential makeup, skincare, fragrance and wellness destination (May 2018)
Jewelry on 2, the jewelry lover's ultimate destination featuring a mix of established and emerging jewelry designers (May 2018)
L3 Designer, a one-of-a-kind destination for extraordinary fashion from around the world (September 2017)
L5, The Collective and The Advance, a destination for fresh contemporary fashion (Summer 2017)
L4, home to designer collections (August 2016)
Select shops in 10022-SHOE on 8, Saks' famed shoe salon so big it needed its own zip code (2015)

Saks is set to debut two additional phases of the Grand Renovation later in 2019: The Vault and Men's. All aspects of Saks' New York flagship Grand Renovation are integral pieces of its new business model, creating the ultimate shopping destination in New York City with unparalleled service and merchandise.

FULL HANDBAG BRAND MATRIX
Akris, Alexander McQueen, Alexander Wang, Anya Hindmarch, Attico, ALAÏA, Balenciaga, Bao Bao Issey Miyake, Bottega Veneta, BOYY, Burberry, Carolina Santo Domingo, Celine, CHANEL, Chloé, Christian Louboutin, Coach, Cult Gaia, Danse Lente, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Edie Parker, Fendi, Givenchy, Gucci, Hunting Season, J.W. Anderson, Jimmy Choo, Judith Leiber, Loewe, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, MANU Atelier, Marc Jacobs, Mark Cross, MCM, Miu Miu, Moynat, MZ Wallace, Nancy Gonzalez, Off-White, Pop & Suki, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Rebecca Minkoff, Rimowa, Saint Laurent, Salvatore Ferragamo, STAUD, Stella McCartney, Strathberry, Susan Alexandra, The Row, Valentino

ABOUT SAKS FIFTH AVENUE (@saks)
As a leading shopping destination for the all-channel luxury experience, Saks Fifth Avenue is renowned for its coveted edit of American and international designer collections as well as its storied history of creating breakthrough, experiential environments. Its exemplary client service has made Saks a global authority in the category, a focus since the brand's inception in 1924. As part of the HBC brand portfolio, Saks operates in 43 cities across the globe, its online experience―saks.com, and its mobile experience―Saks App.

For more information, kindly visit saks.com, Instagram.com/saks, Facebook.com/saks, Snapchat.com/saks_official, and Twitter.com/saks.

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