There are lots of changes at the Bergdorf Goodman men’s store this fall.
Over the weekend, the retailer took the wraps off its Self-Care Shop, a men’s grooming destination on the main floor of the Goodman’s store that features an assortment of new and exclusive items for sleep, hair care, nutrition, post-workout and other purposes.
The shop, right off the rotunda, is one of several additions and changes in adjacencies on the first and second floors this season. “This is the most significant shift in almost a decade,” said Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director of Bergdorf’s and its parent company Neiman Marcus.
Pask said the shifts were all designed to make the shopping experience more “intuitive” for the customer. Since the moves were made in the past few weeks, “the response has been tremendous from our customers and associates, who love the flow,” he said.
One of the most significant changes is a 900-square-foot installation space right inside the Fifth Avenue entrance. The current iteration is dedicated to Greg Lauren’s partnership with Gee’s Bend, a quilting group of Black artisans from Alabama with whom he worked to create one-of-a-kind pieces exclusively for the retailer. The installation includes immersive elements such as a listening station where customers can hear directly from the quilters as well as portraits of the artists on a recycled muslin quilt hanging from the ceiling, and a table that showcases how the pieces were made.
“To really complete this story, we needed the most iconic retail partner,” Lauren said as he surveyed the space and chatted with customers. “So to have this right off of Fifth Avenue really has the feel of something exciting and electric.”
Pask described the space as part exhibition, part pop-up, and said it will rotate every four to six weeks. “When you walk in, you’ll never know what to expect,” he said.
The creation of the pop-up space necessitated the move of private label and sportswear — Smedley, Boglioli, Massimo Alba and the Goodman’s private brand, or what Pask described as “wardrobe staples” — to a new location to the right of the Fifth Avenue entrance.
The rotunda, which had previously housed jewelry, is now home to fragrance, which Pask said “brings a lot of energy” to the area. And watches and jewelry now have a home to the right of the entrance and includes a separate area dedicated to the store’s popular vintage watch offering.
Past the rotunda on the main floor, the area that had housed shirts and ties is now home to small leather goods and adjacent to shoes. “It always makes sense for leather goods to be near footwear,” Pask said, adding that the shift “refreshes the space and gives it a sense of openness.”
There are also changes on the second floor, which is dedicated to luxury sportswear and tailored clothing. At the top of the escalator, a formalwear shop was created that is located next to the Tom Ford and Giorgio Armani shops. A room for private fittings is part of the space. “Occasion-based dressing is an important category,” Pask said.
A space was created for Agnona, which flows into the boutiques for Berluti, Ralph Lauren and Gabriela Hearst — “Knitwear is integral to her line so we made sure there was plenty of folding space,” Pask said — and a “refreshed” Brunello Cucinelli Sartoria shop, which is exclusive to the men’s store.
The Goodman’s Bar has reopened and the floor also features shops for Kiton, Brioni, Cesare Attolini and Ermenegildo Zegna, the latter of which spotlights the brand’s growing luxury sportswear offering. There is also a made-to-measure area where customers can personalize everything from denim and outerwear to sneakers. “The idea of what made-to-measure has become is expansive,” Pask said.
Shirts and ties were relocated from the main floor to sit next to tailored clothing area in a space that formerly housed the formalwear.
But Pask is perhaps most excited about the Self-Care shop. The brands were chosen by the buying and fashion offices and include skin care from 111 Skin, Augustinus Badar and Barbara Sturm; grooming brands such as Acqua di Parma, Iles Formula, Jupiter; nutritional goods including 8 Greens, 27 Rosiers, Shore Magic and The Organic Pharmacy; sleep selection from Amly and Anatome; bath products by Claus Porto, Salt, Soeder, and post-work out solution products such as Theragun and Asystem.
“We BG wanted to create a helpful, intuitive shopping experience by organizing products by category to best address each customer’s individual needs and interests,” Pask explained. “We noticed an increase in the introductions of life-enhancing products made specifically for men so we felt that it was a great time to present an offering of our favorites.”
The assortment will also be available online and will include editorial content focused on men’s grooming tips.