Urban Outfitters (New York) opened the doors to its new 57,000-square-foot store in New York’s Herald Square. Aimed to draw more foot traffic — and keep shoppers in the store longer — the new format features a coffee bar, hair salon and book shop, as well as other novel attractions. John Hauser, chief officer of brand experience for Urban Outfitters Group told CNBC that retailers can draw shoppers back into bricks-and-mortar stores: “I think you just have to do something more exciting for the customer,” he said.
The store, four times the size of the typical Urban Outfitters footprint, features other surprises such as a record shop, an outpost of vinyl retailer Amoeba Records (Los Angeles), a photo shop where shoppers can make prints from their Instagram accounts, and Tortoise & Blonde, an eyewear retailer featuring an in-store “lensometer” that can scan a customer's glasses and read their prescription.
Components of the Herald Square store may find their way across the chain as Urban Outfitters works to increase sales, particularly among young shoppers. Last quarter, comparable store sales dropped by 12 percent.