Intimissimi and Calzedonia’s Stateside invasion continues with a new flagship in New York.
The Italian luxury innerwear brand quietly opened a joint Intimissimi and Calzedonia flagship in Manhattan’s Flatiron’s District last month, part of parent company Calzedonia Group’s greater retail expansion plans.
“Intimissimi and Calzedonia fit into city markets seamlessly, where tourists and locals usually shop boutique-like stores,” Antonio Simonato, country manager USA, told WWD, regarding the Italian-based firm’s plans to grow the retail fleet in the U.S. “We love to fit our brands and our concepts into Manhattan’s architecture and retail landscape, as that is organic to the market. And Flatiron is an iconic area in New York City. The storefront is perfectly immersed into the building architecture and thanks to the double exposition on Fifth Avenue and 17th Street, it is really well visible coming from anywhere. And Union Square is a strategic hub for public transportation and has very high foot traffic.”
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The 4,500-square-foot store, located at 97 Fifth Avenue, includes both Intimissimi (with a selection of lingerie and sleepwear) and Calzedonia (legwear and swimwear). There are also some U.S.-exclusive collections available.
Simonato added that the marble found in the store came directly from Italy. “And it enriches the ambiance in many parts of the stores, from the fitting rooms to the cash register and from the central elements to the floors,” he said. “We love to have bright stores where the merchandise can take life and be the protagonist.”
The retailer first took up residence Stateside in 2016. The Flatiron shop marks Intimissimi’s 30th location and Calzedonia’s 20th in the U.S. The Calzedonia Group — which also includes the Tezenis, Falconeri, Atelier Eme, Intimissimi Uomo and Signorvino brands — has previously said it intends to grow the overall store count in the U.S. to around 150 in the next three or four years.
In the near-term, the company plans to open 10 more U.S.-based stores in the next four months, a combination of East and West Coast openings, including one in New York’s Hudson Yards, the American Dream mall in New Jersey and Southern California. Rhode Island, Boston and Las Vegas are also on the company’s radar, Simonato said.
“Our expansion strategy includes a combination of openings in notable locations in major cities and, at the same time, we are approaching smaller, local markets in order to reach our customers who exist outside of larger cities,” Simonato explained.
He added that while Russia and Western Europe have historically been the brands’ biggest markets, these days the retailer is zeroing in on the U.S. So far it seems to be working.
“The response is really positive in the stores, but also online,” Simonato said. “And we’ve received positive feedback from our customers regarding our stores and our customer service. They love the boutique experience, but with an affordable price. Our Intimissimi assortment is unique in the underwear retailers’ panorama since we offer a wide variety of corsetry that can be styled with sophisticated lingerie, nightwear and loungewear garments.”