MIAMI — Saks Fifth Avenue christened its wholesale partnership with North Sails Collection with a pop-up at its new Brickell City Centre store in Miami. The shop, which will be housed on the store’s third level during the month of March, will then travel to the retailer’s Union Square store in San Francisco in May, followed by Manhattan’s Brookfield Place in July.
North Sails’ foray into U.S. wholesale — it operates freestanding stores in New York; Annapolis, Md.; and Newport, R.I. — coincides with the 52 Super Series Miami Royal Cup regatta, which runs through March 11, when top local clients are invited to be in the center of the action on a spectator boat.
“Guys are interested in pop-ups and an elevated shopping experience, and we’re putting a lot of effort into them,” said Tom Ott, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for men’s wear at Saks Fifth Avenue, of the afternoon outing on Biscayne Bay, which he believes will appeal to Miamians’ outdoor lifestyle, sailor or not. “Once you do these experiential events, customers become loyal and excited about the brick-and-mortar experience.”
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Before they climb aboard, customers can dress the part by shopping at the pop-up’s edited selection of 30 men’s spring/summer styles priced from $45 to $400. Indigo-dyed T-shirts, swim trunks in floral prints and waterproof shell jackets in coated nylon with heat-sealed seams offer a cross section of the brand’s best-selling classics and high-tech fabrications.
“Active performance’s versatility can go from the boat to running to a layering piece for the gym,” said Franco DiCarlo, chief merchandising officer for North Sails Collection, North America, of applying the brand’s heritage in sailmaking to functional fashion for men, women and children.
Ott said Saks is aggressively going after elevated activewear as part of today’s man’s everyday wardrobe, especially in warm climates such as Florida. The collection is also carried at its stores in Naples, Sarasota, Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens, as well as online.