The company is expanding into brick and mortar with a global flagship featuring its licensed headwear and apparel, company-branded products, exclusive collaborations and international exclusives – and a customisation shop.
The global sports and lifestyle brand has opened a flagship in New York City’s SoHo shopping district. It’s also New Era’s first standalone store in the US, outside of a store connected to the company’s global headquarters in Buffalo, New York.
Blending immersive digital elements with storytelling, the store is designed to create a dynamic retail experience that guides customers from first impression to final purchase. The entry is marked with a 17×20-foot street-facing digital screen that will broadcast New Era’s latest releases, commercials and marketing campaign. The overhead screen transitions to a screen inside the store set atop the featured merchandise table, creating a dramatic point of entry that will spotlight the latest product drops and collaborations.
The cash wrap area is located behind the arrival vestibule. In a nod to the company’s roots, it features an “artistic” map of Buffalo. Other interior details include a 15-foot-long display table that runs the length of the space. It’s flanked by built-in displays which frame the customer journey through to the far end of the store, where they will find a floor-to-ceiling cap display for up to 50 caps, complete with original wooden hat forms from New Era’s first factories.
The flagship houses an in-store customisation shop called “The Garage”. Designed like an old-school haberdashery, it provides customers with the opportunity to make their purchases uniquely their own.
The Garage is complete with reclaimed wood flooring and wrap-around shelving displaying curated memorabilia from New Era’s own archives. A Buffalo medallion is inlaid into the threshold. Cases of custom patches and pins, some specific to New York City, are laid out for customers to choose from. Other customisation options include cap blocking machines, for shaping a cap’s brim and crown and heat seals for on-site patch application.
