design:retail - November/December 2019 - 65

Shinola
at TWA Hotel
6 Central Terminal Area, Jamaica
JFK Airport's luxury TWA Hotel, a gem for midcentury modern enthusiasts, was built inside the landmark
1962 Trans World Airlines terminal designed by Michigan-based architect Eero Saarinen. Given this history, it's
fitting that the Detroit-based watchmaker Shinola opened its new outpost here, mixing the old with the new.
Leather goods like backpacks, purses and journals-which can be customized for free at the monogramming
station-are displayed on floating wood shelving units, while a custom watch bar lets shoppers pick and choose
colorful straps and dials. A neon sign that reads "Love from Detroit," proudly declares the brand's allegiance
to Motor City, where Shinola's artisans produce between 500 and 700 watches a day. While you're at the TWA
Hotel, don't miss significant furniture pieces by Isamu Noguchi, Raymond Loewy and Saarienen, and graphics
featuring the custom typeface Pentagram created, based off the architect's original lettering.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TWA HOTEL/DAVID MITCHELL

Mack Weldon at The Shops at Hudson Yards
20 Hudson Yards

In New York, the motto is "go big or go home." When the digitally native menswear brand Mack Weldon decided to open its first physical store,
it opted for the high-traffic, much buzzed-about Shops at Hudson Yards,
which features a second floor full of other direct-to-consumer brands, like
Italian shoe retailer M. Gemi. While mackweldon.com offers an easy-tonavigate experience, the company believes physical retail spaces still offer a
new way to access customers, build brand equity and test markets. The sleek
store, designed in collaboration with Fred Tang & Associates, neatly displays
modern menswear essentials, like underwear, socks, shirts, sweats and activewear in oak bays, while tablets educate shoppers on high-performance
fabrics and the brand's loyalty program. Local artist Taylor Allen created a
striking white custom wood and resin-cast centerpiece that plays with the
idea of pre-digital toy model kits; this coordinates with two custom white
arcade game cabinets that are sure to attract attention.
Mack Weldon was inspired to open shop after getting a taste of brickand-mortar retail through past partnerships with J.Crew, Nordstrom and
Equinox, says Brian Berger, Mack Weldon's founder and CEO.
"Through those experiences, we learned that providing customers the
opportunity to experience Mack Weldon product in the physical world
was very powerful and complementary to our e-commerce experience,"
Berger says.

Nordstrom
Local
1273 Third Ave. and 13 Seventh Ave.
In addition to the major news of Nordstrom's
flagship store opening in Manhattan (see page
48), the retailer is also diversifying how-and
where-it interacts with customers by opening two Nordstrom Local outposts in the Upper
East Side and West Village. The concept behind
Nordstrom Local focuses on providing in-andout convenience to customers through services
like online order pickups, easy returns, alterations, leather repairs, gift wrapping and stroller
cleanings (in the Upper East Side). The neighborhood boutique-scaled service hubs aim to
make shopping easier by being closer to where
customers live and work, and also will serve as a
host of local networking and family events.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORDSTROM LOCAL

PHOTO BY KRISTEN SOMODY WHALEN

http://www.mackweldon.com http://www.mackweldon.com

design:retail - November/December 2019

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