New York—Flor opened its flagship store here on March 31 at 142 Wooster Street in SoHo. “This will be our most important store,” said Greg Colando, Flor’s president. “Fashion starts here, design starts here [in New York]. Our largest customer base is here and tells us this is the right place.”
He said although it is technically the third Flor store to open, the Chicago and Santa Monica locations served to work out the kinks for the official flagship launch. The company will open a retail space in Dallas next month, followed by locations in Boston and Georgetown, with plans to move into the Northwest in the near future.
The 3,500-square-foot gallery style space is more about avoidance than anything else, said Rick Kilmer, vice president, Retail. “We’re keeping the stores open, taking the product beyond merchandising.” Providing a blank selling space is meant to create possibilities and options for the shopper, so she can create a look she wants. Product vignettes similar to those found in the Flor catalogue are positioned along the walls of the store for maximum visibility and tactile experience.
One of the new products on display is a collection of wool tiles called Floresse. Available in natural, softer color tones, Flor is dabbling in a partial dye solution process to produce blues and greens as well. Colando said the wool line is the freshest product featured in the new space.
The brick and mortar store is also a site for Flor’s Return & Recycle Program, which accepts old carpet tiles for recycling into new products. The take-back program is one of several green initiatives by Flor and its parent company, Interface.
For more information, visit Flor.com. For more images of the store, visit our Flickr page.