Home goods chain Crate & Barrel has unveiled a new flagship location in the Flatiron district of New York City. Entering the brand’s first-ever immersive design store, customers can shop the brand’s classic whole home design surrounded by personalized experience. The store features a selection of artisanal home goods exclusive to this store, located at 881 Broadway in Manhattan.
The historic location
Located within New York’s premiere neighborhood for retail and design, the 23,000 square-foot, two-level store was carefully renovated by Crate & Barrel’s in-house architecture and design team with the goal to preserve much of the rich history of the circa-1868 building. Once home to the largest department store, the building was known as New York’s Palace of Trade. The overall design of the store includes an original volcanic ash tile wall that pays homage to the energy and dynamics of the city’s present and future.
“This historic building embodies Crate & Barrel, blending classic and timeless design with a modern vision for a true flagship experience that feels right at home in the heart of New York City,” says Sebastian Brauer, Senior Vice President of Product Design, Visual Crate & Barrel. “We preserved the original neoclassical columns, brought in natural light with a modern staircase and a custom tile wall, and included special shopping features like our most expansive whiteware wall, a curated botanical shop with a layer of local artisan goods, a designated Crate & Kids shop and two state of the art design areas to help customers select product to fit their homes.”
The only-in-New York experience
As with the architecture, the assortment and services inside the store were curated to match the energy of New York City as well as the timeless beauty of the brand. This store location features bestselling items across every home category in addition to artisan products inspired by the city’s creative community like Smithey Cookware, Jono Pandolfi dinnerware, and Apotheke.
Elevated Design for All
The Design Desk at Crate & Barrel Flatiron offers free design and trade services that reach beyond the store walls, with twice as many experts and more than 50 feet of tangible design inspiration featuring more walls of swatches, hardware, fixtures, and wood samples than any other location. The Design Desk spans two floors and is staffed by up to 30 NYC-based designers, equipped with extensive training, and ready for projects of all sizes across the city. The designers bring our customer’s vision to life through collaborative conversations and technology, traveling to their homes, and conveniently scheduling an appointment in the store, virtually, or in their homes, offering industry-leading service and state of the art floor planning tools.
“Our customers are prioritizing functionality, ease and personal style in their homes in all projects, from refreshing a small space to a full home renovation,” said Alicia Waters, Brand President, Crate & Barrel and Crate & Kids. “Crate & Barrel Design Desk professionals merge our customers’ vision with our latest technology to bring their vision from concept to reality.”
Crate & Barrel is there for all of life’s meaningful moments and the new store meets all the needs of our customers, from first homes to wedding registry to baby registry and offers a range of modern services.
- Monogramming Services: Personalize any textile in-person at the store.
- Floral Arrangements: The store offers an expansive botanical shop and an expanded assortment of dried botanicals for DIY arrangements or on-site styling by an expert.
- One Day Delivery: To match the unique pace of New York City, purchases made in the flagship store will be delivered within one day.
- Crate & Barrel Trade Program: Expanded home renovation products for every client, from bathroom vanities which are exclusive to this store to access to dinnerware and entertaining options for restaurant trade.
- Gift Registry: Expanded gift registry gives couples the opportunity to see more options as they create their registries along with exclusive events and personalized service appointments just for the New York customer.
The largest Crate & Kids location yet
Crate & Barrel’s growing Crate & Kids brand has a “shop within the shop” at the new Flatiron flagship, with highly-specialized kid and baby products curated for city parents’ needs, including toys, gear and wall decor only found at this location.
Crate & Barrel will also launch its first-ever immersive virtual store inviting visualization and access to customers globally. The interactive environment is a replica of the flagship store, allowing customers to experience and envision more than 450 products digitally.
For Crate & Barrel CEO Janet Hayes, this store represents the future of the brand. “This flagship store embodies our commitment to inspiring and supporting customers at every step of their home shopping journey,” she says. “As we continue to invest in our customer experience, we know the ability to experience our brand and services is essential to creating a home with purpose.”
To kick off this historic opening, Crate & Barrel will be hosting the Flatiron Food & Design Festival onsite beginning November 18 through December 19. Special events will include meeting design and food partners like Athena Calderone and Molly Baz. Customers are invited to join design discussion panels, food demos, in-person monogramming and more.
The company is a member of Germany’s Otto Group and operates over 100 Crate & Barrel, CB2 and Hudson Grace stores throughout the U.S. and Canada, with franchise locations in nine countries.
