Nespresso has brewed up a new flagship store in New York City, its first location with a hidden coffee bar, in the bustling Flatiron district.
The new store — a 13,900-square-foot space at 85 Fifth Ave. — offers the Swiss coffee brands’s full line of machines, coffees and accessories, along with a wrapping and engraving station on the upper level. Its Hidden Cup Coffee Bar is open seven days a week, and the store has participatory experiences for java shoppers.
For example, the ground floor is serving as a hub for visitors to walk in and experience the brand. It features a “Taste and Discover” area for visitors to do self-guided tastings, a Coffee Theatre for employee-led master classes and “a Nespresso coffee bard on standby to answer any questions,” according to the espresso purveyor.
Nespresso is even providing what some call a “third place” — an environment separate from home and work where people can socialize — in the vein of what Starbucks is trying to re-create for its customers. About a mile away from the Nespresso Fifth Avenue location, Starbucks operatives its Reserve Roastery that also offers hands-on coffee experiences.
Nespresso’s New York flagship “is the culmination of the brand’s reimagined retail strategy as the eighth and largest global model of its kind,” the company said Thursday.
The first floor “echoes Nespresso’s refreshed boutique design, while the lower level features two custom-curated spaces that enable visitors to experience Nespresso in an all-new way,” according to the company.
The coffee bar on the lower level will serve “drinks inspired by coffee trends like functionally enhanced coffees and zero-proof blends, as well as ... favorite Nespresso classics,” the company said.
On the immersive retail front, Nespresso’s new proprietary multisensory signature mocktail experience will be on hand. It was “specifically designed to infuse coffee aromas and bring a multisensory coffee mixology experience to life,” according to Nespresso.
A second space downstairs, the Nespresso Lounge, gives visitors a place to relax and “test their barista skills with self-service coffee machines,” the company said. Nespresso professional machines will also be available for use along with details of where they can be found in restaurants and hotels across the city, “encouraging further exploration of Nespresso across New York,” according to the company.
“Our Nespresso New York City flagship is more than a boutique,” Jason Webber, vice president of sales, Nespresso USA, said in a statement. “As the pinnacle of our retail strategy, it's the first in North America to bring our vision to life, blending the elements of discovery and experience with a local New York City touch.”
Nespresso — headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland — is part of Nestlé. As of last year, it operated a global retail network of 818 stores.
For the record
In negotiating the lease, Thomas Citron and Alexander Green of Colliers represented Nespresso. Ross Berkowitz, Jason Wecker and Ariel Schuster of Newmark and Eli Mizrachi of Wharton Properties represented the owner.