Is this the beginning of a new era in Madison Avenue shopping? Bonobos, the cool e-tailer and one of the most successful retail start-ups of the last decade, comes to Midtown today. And to Madison Avenue specifically, a fabled street with the world’s best-known luxury names. Bonobos founder and CEO Dunn pioneered the “clicks to bricks” concept with his Guideshop stores, which blend online and offline shopping.(A significant retail disrupter, Guideshops have made many established brands re-think the in-person shopping experience.) The new 1700-foot store, called Bonobos Guideshop Madison Avenue, is located at 488 Madison Avenue (between 51st and 52nd streets).
“We have a strong customer presence in the Midtown area,” says Bonobos founder and CEO Andy Dunn, who started his firm in 2007 and built it into a company with a reported $100 million in revenues. “And Madison Avenues offers us the opportunity to meet their demand, particularly with our suiting and workwear categories [by providing] the convenience of being located near their offices.” Dunn points out that the company’s four other New York locations have been highly successful and that when the location became available Bonobos “jumped at a chance to be on Madison Avenue, a street widely known as a top shopping destination.”
Pioneered by Bonobos in 2011, the Guideshop model of “e-commerce stores,” utilizes bonobos.com to serve as virtual stockroom. The store showcases the website’s extensive selection of clothing in a range of sizes for customers to try on before placing orders. In-store Guides act as personal shoppers advising customers on the merch that includes suits, shirts, chinos, blazers, outerwear, and golf apparel. Once items are chosen purchases are shipped free-of-charge. That means no shopping bags to lug home!
At the Midtown store, there’s a sleek lounge with custom gray lacquer wall casework and white oak and blackened steel fixtures, where customers can bring their “plus ones” to chill as they shop away. Curated artwork highlighting Upper Manhattan and throwback prints nodding to Milton Glaser, creator of the “I Heart New York” design, also decorate the space.
Bonobos Guideshop New York City at Madison Avenue is the brand’s twenty-sixth store. Open Monday – Friday from 10am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, and Sunday 12pm-6pm. Guideshop appointments can be scheduled by visiting www.bonobos.com/guideshop Walk-ins are welcome and appointments are complimentary.
News
September 29, 2016StripSteak: 10 Years Old and Still Going Strong
