Last Friday, Nordstrom expanded its footprint in the Big Apple, debuting a flagship location with emphasis on products from emerging designers and exclusive, limited-time collaborations. The seven-level store, located at 57th& Broadway, is the retailer’s latest effort to offer a thoughtfully curated assortment of products spanning apparel, shoes, and beauty. The space is immersed in botanical décor and touch-screen kiosks to help shoppers navigate between floors, creating a museum-like experience.
While the new store features a retro sneaker boutique in partnership with Nike, several restaurants, and a stylist lounge, it is clear that the retailer is betting big on beauty, despite stalled growth of these products through department stores in recent years, as indicated in Kline’s Cosmetics & Toiletries USA report.
The “Beauty Hall” is a two-level department aimed at helping consumers with beauty exploration through virtual try-on tools, a digital fragrance finder, and beauty services, similar to concepts tackled in recent years by Saks Fifth Avenue’s Beauty Floor 2.0 and Macy’s. The first floor focuses on skin care, makeup, hair care, home fragrance, and fragrance, featuring new-to-market beauty and wellness brands such as Skin Gym and long-time players such as Kiehl’s and MAC. Charlotte Tilbury also has a sizeable presence with an emphasis on its holiday collection, while luxe fragrances make a statement with brands like Le Labo and Diptyque garnering attention as consumers enter the beauty hall.
However, the retailer’s second beauty floor caters to skin care lovers through trendy, non-invasive aesthetic services and products that align with ongoing trends like naturals, clean, CBD, and intimate care. CBD and intimate care, market segments that Kline covers in Cannabis Beauty: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities and Intimate Beauty Care: U.S. Market Assessment and Opportunities, stand out with brands like Beboe and Nécessaire on display. Meanwhile, the retailer’s endeavor into aesthetic, hair, and makeup services is notable, with 12 stations that range from Anastasia Beverly Hills brow bar to Face Gym, in essence a gym studio for facial workouts.
The professional skin care market continues to record impressive gains above 7%, as revealed in Kline’s Professional Skin Care: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities, supported by an increase in non-invasive aesthetic procedures with injectable and facial bars on the rise. Nordstrom’s Kate Somerville clinic offers Botox and lip fillers, while The Light Salon, an LED facial bar with roots in the United Kingdom, has an extensive menu and an innovative wellbeing room for full-body treatments.
