This week, I’ve been talking about the retail growth in Atlantic City. The recently completely Nike Factory store is another fantastic example of how great retail in that city is looking:
The store opened within the past two months and is reportedly the first store of it’s kind for Nike.
The location of the store is unbelievable. Situated in the median of the Atlantic City Expressway, right as you get to the beachfront/casino area, it is one of the most visible, non-casino properties in the city. The exterior of the building has floor to ceiling windows, filling the interior with natural light. I was there on a beautiful, sunny Summer day and I couldn’t believe how bright the interior was.
Merchandise is presented well, with the full range of Nike products shown. Mannequins and innovative fixturing, mixed with huge (over 10 feet tall) graphics showing their products in action, lead to a great shopping experience. Sneakers are presented in a self-serve format, with a range of products offered.
There is also an separate, smaller store that is dedicated to the Converse brand. Same level of excitement, innovation, and merchandising excellence.
I was really surprised to see how nice this store looked. It compliments the rest of the Walk outlets. Atlantic City is becoming a destination shopping experience, with a great mix of high and low-end retailers. If you are in New Jersey and looking for a great place to shop, check out Atlantic City.
Spent some time in Atlantic City this weekend and I love the growth of retail down there. I’ve talked about the rise of retail in the city before. What really interested me this weekend was some of the new construction going on in the The Walk / Atlantic City Outlets. Recent openings include Eddie Bauer, The Children’s Place, Adidas, Easy Spirit, and BCBG Max Azria. There’s still more construction going on, including locations for T-Mobile and G By Guess (which will actually be the third Guess-related location in the city, after the Guess located in The Pier at Caesar’s and the Guess Factory location elsewhere in the outlets).
What I got a kick out of where the notes on the windows of two stores. Both Jones New York (first photo) and Maidenform (second photo) stores are opening soon, apparently:
I have got to say that, from what I could see through the windows, the Jones New York store looks great. Perfectly folded and displayed merchandise, ready for customers to come in and tear it apart!
I’ve got some more photos from Atlantic City coming later in the week.
In September, Ann Taylor opened their new location at The Pier at Caesar’s in Atlantic City. I didn’t get to talk about it at the time, but I was so impressed by the look of the store. I think that Ann Taylor is one mall-retailer that is doing things right, as far as visual merchandising. They’ve got a great mix of ideas in the store that create a very exciting athmosphere. I can’t think of one store that I’ve walked past in any mall, or “lifestyle center”, that doesn’t look inviting and well kept. Great representation of the brand.
They’ve posted a 5.3% decrease in same store sales for December. I don’t think this says all that much about Ann Taylor itself, rather speaks more about the rough month that the industry as a whole faced.
The pictures below are from the Atlantic City location. They were taken in October.
This is the At Sea Edition of Retail Notes. Today I am coming to you from a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic – right now approximately 100 miles from the island of Bermuda. A world away from work and the worries of every day life, but with the power of modern technology, I stay connected.
With that, one quick note about the ship. Although I am on one of the smaller ships in the Royal Carribean line, I am really amazed at how entirely self sufficient the ship is. In addition to the mounds of food that they must have stored in a back room, they have so much crap that they are hawking. Generally, it is either low quality crap or really overpriced crap. I’m amazed at how much stuff I see people buying, but when you’re at sea, who doesn’t need a new bolero or Royal Carribean golf shirt?
Appears that we will now have the first look at the JC Penney/Sephora marriage as JCP has opened their first Sephora location in their store (see: Penney unveils first Sephora). This is just the first of many and I’d expect shoppers to react pretty positively, iniatially, to this new partnership.
I finally got down to the Pier at Caesar’s in Atlantic City last week and will post photos next week. From a retail perspective, it is really beautiful. Harrah’s is pumping a lot of money into all of their developments in Atlantic City, with expansion and rennovation going on all over the place. Although not directly retail related, it is pretty impressive that there is a rumored buyout of Harrah’s in the works (see: Harrah’s Shares Rise; WSJ Says Company May Be Bought).
I haven’t been down to Atlantic City since The Pier at Caesar’s has opened. I just haven’t had the chance to make it down there. Not all the stores were open with the grand opening, so they’ve been having openings of new retailers all throughout the Summer. Today, the new Apple store opened to much fanfare. There’s good coverage, and photos, of this event over at O’Grady’s Powerpage.
See also: Is Atlantic City the next retail Mecca?
