With its first multi-brand flagship store, Citizen Watch America has created a retail experience that celebrates the company’s most recognizable design attributes and honors watchmaking craftsmanship.
The store opened last month in New York, at 605 Fifth Ave., steps from Rockefeller Center in one of the city’s premier shopping areas. Citizen worked with architect Ken Park and his New York–based firm to design the space, which includes grand video displays, a 20-foot-long timeline of watchmaking, and shops-in-shop for all Citizen’s brands.
Citizen Watch America president Jeffrey Cohen says this flagship is a new retail concept, bringing the company’s full range of timepieces together in one location. Watches from Citizen’s portfolio of brands—including Citizen, Bulova, Accutron, Frederique Constant, and Alpina—are sold on the first and second floors. The third floor has a museum archive and dedicated space for events and community activations.
Coming up with a welcoming yet innovative interior design that would surprise and delight customers was the first order of business, Cohen says. One highlight of the 7,000-square-foot store is its three-story “Light Is Time” art installation that uses glimmering baseplates from Citizen watches.
Citizen designed this visual expression of time and its relation to light with Paris-based Japanese architect Tsuyoshi Tane. It serves as a warm and light-filled invitation into the store and its upper floors.
The new store “provides an immersive backdrop to experience all our brands and offers our shoppers the opportunity to interact with our timepieces in person in a truly innovative way they have never been able to before,” says Cohen. “Our presence in the international retail market of New York City perfectly aligns with our strategy of providing access to Citizen Watch America group brands to all citizens of the world.”
Inside the Citizen flagship, Bulova’s shop-in-shop features orange, the favorite color of singer-songwriter Marc Anthony, who designs watches with Citizen, and display Anthony’s song lyrics, sayings that are meaningful to him, and some of his music awards.
Citizen will debut watches from its family of brands at the New York store. One of note is the new limited-edition Accutron DNA Casino, with green, blue, orange, and red to resemble the neon colors of Las Vegas’ iconic skyline and casinos.
The Fifth Avenue space will evolve as customers come in to shop and attend events, Cohen says. “As a data-first organization, we are looking forward to continuing to learn from our consumers and tailor the shopping experience to suit their needs and make this flagship a true watch destination,” he says.
Top: In its new flagship store, Citizen Watch America has installed a special art display that celebrates its design features and draws you into the space. (Photos courtesy of Citizen Watch America)
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