A wall of silk envelops all who enter Hermès’ new Phipps Plaza storefront, the largest the renowned luxury brand has operated in Atlanta.
Sleek scarves are showcased in tidy folds, draped over bars and tied in a menagerie of fashionable knots, mirroring the variety displayed throughout the 7,000-square-foot store. Other corners are testaments to the mantra that “less is more,” leaving room for sales associates to fill in the blanks.
Jenni Girtman
Jenni Girtman
“Everything’s not on the floor, but it allows you to start a conversation,” Diane Mahady, U.S. president of Hermès, said at a Wednesday event celebrating the store’s opening. “Oh, you’re interested in porcelain? I have a pattern you might like, and an associate will then bring them something that is tailored to (their tastes).”
Hermès announced two years ago it would relocate to Phipps Plaza, leaving its home at Buckhead Village District less than two miles away. The move expands the French brand’s floor space by about 2,800 square feet, allowing a wider range of the company’s 16 product types, called metiers, to catch shoppers’ eyes.
Simon Property Group, which owns Phipps Plaza and its sister mall, Lenox Square, credited Hermès with opening the floodgates for a wave of luxury brands to flock to the malls. Simon executives said the two properties will house a combined 65 luxury brands by the end of this year, ranking among the densest footprints of opulent shopping in the country.
Hermès used to be a fixture of Lenox Square until 2009, when it moved to what’s now called the Buckhead Village District, which aimed to be a “new Rodeo Drive” filled with swank and exclusive retailers.
By returning to Buckhead’s premier malls, Hermès lends its cachet to the high-end retail district. In return, it gains a prime spot next to One Phipps Plaza, a mixed-use addition that includes a 13-story office building, the luxury Nobu hotel and restaurant, Life Time fitness center, a food hall and about three quarters of an acre of green space. Mahady said the relocation was driven by the desire to be near that mixed-used energy.
“There was some interest in having us down on the other side (of Phipps Plaza), and we’re like, ‘Nobody likes this space. We want to be next to the green,’” she said. “So we’re really happy with the location.”
Miguel Martinez
Miguel Martinez
In recent years, Simon has injected hundreds of millions of dollars into Phipps, including development of One Phipps Plaza. The investment is a more than decade-long effort to evolve Phipps Plaza into a mixed-use development and entertainment center, which comes in response to both other planned luxury shopping rivals and the rise of e-commerce.
Mahady said Hermès has also adapted to modern shopping tastes, having to compete with online retailers and convenience. She said brick-and-mortar optimization is key to creating a seamless consumer experience, which is helped by the new store’s larger size.
“The nature of the business has changed,” she said. “So now we dedicate more square footage to our back-of-house to ensure operationally things are smooth.”
Hermès has a few foundational rules each location must follow. Silk must be the first product line customers see. Each must highlight its equestrian section. And all of its products have their roots in French leathermaking and artisan craftwork.
But each store’s managing director gets creative control to stock their store and showcase its items, leading to unintentional exclusives and eccentricities in each market. Atlanta is no different.
“Each store is unique,” Mahady said, adding that the company “jumped at the opportunity to be able to more fully express all the different aspects of the brand” at the larger Phipps Plaza store.
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