Sneaker News Nike is ready to expand their retail presence with the grand opening of their new flagship store located at the heart of the city’s 5th Ave. shopping district. Sitting at the southwest corner of 52nd st. and 5th Ave., the cutting-edge House Of Innovation 000 features five floors of athlete-driven product that offers consumers a seamless digital experience in a brick-and-mortar setting, allowing for a dynamic and active shopping outing unlike any other. Of course, you can approach the shop with more traditional means, but being a Nike+ member not only makes for a more fluid outing, but also allows you access to exclusive product.
The ground floor (beneath the 1st street level floor) is the Speed Shop – a curated selection of apparel for what New Yorkers are keen to the most. It’s fast access to the most coveted product for locals, such as the Vapormax Flyknit 2 and the Nike Sportswear Tech Fleece jogger for men and the Pegasus 35 and Classic Swoosh Sports Bra for women. It also features the Sneaker Bar – fast access to footwear product that you know is right for you.
The first floor is the Nike Arena, a stage for seasonal storytelling that also offers a one-on-one shoe/apparel customization experience for select product. Currently, Nike is offering a “Noise Cancelling” Collection – an all-white premium iteration of five icons representing athletes that have “cancelled the noise” in this city before. Each silhouette can be dip-dyed in five colors while being decorated in an array of Swoosh options that include lux reptile skins to sporty chenille patches. A giant floating sculpture called the Sport Beacon offers a non-stop visual spark that reflects the fast-paced nature of the city.
The second and third floors are dedicated to the female and male consumer, resepectively, with all categories clustered together to reflect athleisure fashion tendencies of mixing and matching casual with performance gear. These floors will be continually rotated to reflect the latest product from the brand, while several mannequins offer style tips that can be fully explored through the Nike+ App’s Shop The Look features, which simply requires you to scan the product barcode to pull up the rest of the ensemble. Actually, every product in the store has its own scannable barcode that allows you to easily request product for trying on, or to easily make a purchase with the tap of a screen.
The fourth floor is the Sneaker Lab, which is an epic wall-to-wall display of all available footwear product for male and women. It’s the world’s largest Nike footwear floor as it offers the latest kicks across all categories, with a special room called the SNKRS Lounge that showcases the most coveted drops. The main concourse of the Sneaker Lab features a giant mechanical sculpture surrounding by screens and other decor that is arranged to mimic the Nike Sports Research Lab at the World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR.
The fifth floor is called the Nike Expert Studio, which offers one-on-one customer service via appointments with Nike Experts. Key seasonal products exclusive to Nike+ members (currently the Nike ACG winter line) will also be available, while an immersive cut-and-sew customization process allows you to alter the latest apparel launches.
The Nike NYC House Of Innovation 000 will officially open on Thursday, November 15th; it will be open daily from 10am to 8pm.
