Nine West Pumps Up Image

NEW YORK — Nine West is updating its story.

The $1 billion brand is out to up its “cool” factor with a string of new store formats that it will roll out worldwide. The first efforts can be seen here, including the 4,286-square-foot flagship at 750 Lexington Avenue that reopened Sunday.

The flagship is The Jones Group Inc.-owned company’s first to employ a new retail concept: merchandised walls with a laser focus on trend, the main attraction being The World According to Pumps — a wall of sky high, mid-height, kitten and block heels in leather, patent, suede, glitter and metallic dégradé ombré.

Nine West, the largest brand under the Jones umbrella, is available in more than 2,500 doors worldwide, with more than 1,200 stand-alone and concession doors in 57 countries. In the U.S., the 102 full-price stores see average weekly foot traffic near 3,500 people. There are also more than 150 outlet stores in the U.S. that see almost 4,000 shoppers a week, on average.

Rather than opening additional doors, the brand — which sells more than 20 million pairs of shoes a year — is focusing on its existing retail channels and bolstering wholesale accounts.