Express to Open Bicoastal Flagship Stores Next Year
By next summer, Express Inc. will have a huge flagship store on Union Square in San Francisco, followed by another flagship store in New York’s Times Square.
“We are extremely excited to officially announce both of these flagship locations for 2013,” said Michael Weiss, chairman, president and chief executive of Express Inc., the specialty-store chain that sells apparel and accessories to men and women between the ages of 20 and 30. “The age-old mantra of ‘location, location, location’ was certainly at work in the selection of these two properties. These flagships will not only reflect the strength of our fashion authority within these two cities but also serve as a gateway to our brand for international visitors and shoppers as part of our international expansion strategy.”
The San Francisco store will be located at 301 Geary St., which is at the corner of Geary and Powell streets. It will have two floors and a mezzanine covering 16,000 square feet. The property is owned by Handlery Hotels Inc.
The Times Square store will be located at 1552 Broadway, with three floors covering 30,000 square feet. The property is owned by joint-venture partners SL Green Realty Corp. and Jeff Sutton.
Both stores will incorporate Express’ new store concept created by Japanese design firm Wonderwall. The stores will have modern industrial fixtures, displays and textures. Mortar walls and concrete floors will create an open, expansive space accented with aged oak-wood floors. Glossy white walls will divide the space into rooms.
The stores will be split into three sections: men’s, women’s and a dual-gender Denim Lab. Products will be divided into lifestyle categories and outfitted by gender.
Express, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, operates more than 600 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Its revenues in fiscal 2012 were $2 billion with a profit of $140.7 million. —Deborah Belgum
