New York City department stores have uncovered a relationship between mules and Moscow mules.
In the basement of the new Nordstrom flagship on West 57th Street, a few feet from the women’s shoe department, is the Shoe Bar, serving sparkling wine by the glass and bottle, as well as cocktails with names like Corpse Reviver 212.
Le Chalet, a woody, après-ski-like bar that opened in February on the eighth floor of Saks Fifth Avenue, is also steps from the shoe department. In the cozy alcove, decorated with books, antlers and skiing apparatus, shoppers can order from a wide selection of rums, mezcals and whiskeys, or cocktails created by the noted bartender Nico de Soto.
All over Midtown Manhattan, department stores are opening a new department: the spiffy, up-to-date cocktail bar. The new Neiman Marcus at Hudson Yards has Bar Stanley, a snug nook on the sixth floor that has two prebatched and bottled cocktails among its offerings. This month, Bergdorf Goodman will open Goodman’s Bar, an Italian-style cafe and aperitivo bar, on the second floor of its men’s store on Fifth Avenue.
Nordstrom has not only the Shoe Bar, but also the Broadway Bar, on its third floor. Across Eighth Avenue in the Nordstrom Men’s Store is another bar, the Clubhouse. (Nordstrom is not new to the bar business. Eight of its other stores in the United States and Canada have a Habitant bar, but Broadway Bar, Shoe Bar and the Clubhouse are unique to the New York stores.)
“Once the idea got tossed around and accepted, it became a situation of, ‘Why didn’t we do this a long time ago?’ ” said David Kim, Nordstrom’s director of food and beverage. “What better way is there to shop for shoes than sipping on Champagne?”
Pouring drinks for customers has caught on in recent years at men’s clothing chains and barber shops. And department stores have a long history of offering dining options, a strategy that keeps shoppers on the premises longer.
But this new wave of bars is different. They are sleek and stylish and, more significantly, are not restaurants with a few dull wines-by-the-glass, but fully equipped, stand-alone bars with a wide variety of drinks.
“Experience has become very important for customers,” said Bruce Pask, the men’s fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman. “It’s not enough to be a restaurant or bar. It’s got to be special. It’s got to be a destination in itself.”
The Broadway Bar at Nordstrom was the destination last Wednesday evening for two shoppers, Alexandria Adams and Justin Davis. Visiting from Nashville, they had read about the bars online. Ms. Adams, a reporter for WSMV-TV, an NBC affiliate in Nashville, ordered a glass of Prosecco; Mr. Davis had an old-fashioned.
“I wish we had this at our Nordstrom in Nashville,” Ms. Adams said.
Mr. Davis added, with a laugh, “It might give people a little more courage to buy something they wouldn’t otherwise.”
Nearby, a quartet of women from Texas and Oklahoma had stumbled upon the bar, seeking refuge from the cold outside.
“I think it’s a great idea if you want to bring your husband shopping,” said a Dallas woman who identified herself only as Angie. “Normally, I would never bring my husband.” (If she did, he could order a rye-whiskey cocktail named Husband Daycare.)
The bars appear to be popular. Mr. Kim said that one of every four purchases at Nordstrom are in one of the bars and restaurants. At Saks, people can drink at Le Chalet for hours after the store closes at 8:30 p.m. Until 11 p.m., the bar and the restaurant upstairs from it, L’Avenue, are open and accessible through a separate entrance on East 50th Street.
Not only are customers coming to the bars, but the bars are coming to customers. In certain departments at Nordstrom and Bergdorf Goodman, shoppers can order a cocktail or glass of wine from a sales associate and have it delivered to them. Call it a new accessory.
Shoe Bar and Broadway Bar Nordstrom, 225 West 57th Street, 212-295-2000, shop.nordstrom.com/c/new-york.
The Clubhouse Nordstrom Men’s Store 235 West 57th Street, 212-843-5100, shop.nordstrom.com/c/new-york.
Le Chalet Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Avenue, 212-753-4000, saksfifthavenue.com/locations/s/newyork.
Bar Stanley Neiman Marcus, 20 Hudson Yards, 646-562-3539, neimanmarcus.com.
