Home Depot To Open Two Manhattan Stores
By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 9/29/2003
New York— The Home Depot will open its first two stores in Manhattan next summer.
The nation's No. 3 major appliances retailer had been evaluating locations throughout the borough for several years, according to Eastern Division president Tom Taylor. The company presently operates 15 locations throughout the city's four outer boroughs and 78 stores within the greater New York metro area.
One of the Manhattan units will be located adjacent to Bloomingdale's in a former Alexander's department store on Third Avenue and 59th Street, and will boast an 83,000-square-foot footprint. The second spot, announced earlier this month, will be located on the same block as Best Buy's first Manhattan store, at 23rd Street near Fifth Avenue, and will cover 108,000 square feet. Both stores are planned as "pedestrian-oriented, multiple-level neighborhood stores," with a retail floor, showrooms for kitchen vignettes, and take-with product assortments geared specifically for their respective neighborhoods, the company said. Indeed, several thousand square feet will be devoted to showcasing complete installations featuring major appliances, Taylor noted, and delivery and special order purchases will also be available.
"New York City is a retailer's ideal market," noted chairman/CEO Bob Nardelli. "The population density, scale of demand, sophistication of tastes and the strength of the economy are only a few of the ingredients that make Manhattan an extremely attractive market."
