Lessons in Creating a Retail Experience from David Yurman

New York—David Yurman has moved its Manhattan flagship to a ritzy new block off Fifth Avenue, just in time for holiday shopping.

Earlier this month, the store opened its doors at 5 E. 57th St., where it neighbors the likes of Saint Laurent, Burberry and Miu Miu, and sits across the street from Tiffany & Co.’s currently under-construction flagship.

It’s roughly six New York City blocks south of its prior Madison Avenue location, but a world away in retail clout.

The former Manhattan flagship is near the beleaguered Barneys New York and its bright red going-out-of business signs, while the new David Yurman store is a stone’s throw from Bergdorf Goodman and ancillary to the iconic Fifth Avenue tourist shopping mecca that begins at the southeast corner of Central Park.

“[The flagship] is situated among some of the most important global flagships in the world,” remarked President Carol Pennelli in an e-mail to National Jeweler, “and our new space allows us to take advantage of the local tourist and global consumer who gravitates to this area.”

The company invited press to view the new tri-level space the day of its opening. Construction whirled on the main floor with only hours to go before the evening’s grand opening, which attracted beautiful people like Nicky Hilton and Amber Valetta.

More alluring than the celebrities was the store’s design, overseen by Chief Creative Officer Evan Yurman.

  
 
 
 
 



 

 
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A post shared by National Jeweler (@nationaljeweler) on Dec 5, 2019 at 2:19pm PST

Entering through the store’s rose-gold-colored 57th Street façade, one enters the open, light-filled main gallery, crafted in Bardiglio Rambisserra marble and Pietra Cardosa limestone, which houses David Yurman’s core women’s collections (and the bustling construction crew on opening day).

Ascending the flame-textured Serizzio Formazza granite tread staircase with sculpted French oak handrails and beveled-edge crystal glass guardrails leads shoppers to the second and third floors, which provide uninterrupted views of the ground floor salon courtesy of more glass balustrades.

Constructed with wide heart oak plank floors, the second floor features David Yurman wedding and high jewelry styles, including a video wall displaying Sybil Yurman’s artwork, and the very first cable bracelet iteration.

“This store is an extension of a piece of jewelry that we might create. Something both familiar and modern," - David Yurman President Carol Pennelli