I was walking west on Houston St. yesterday with my friend Kiko after we had seen Davis Guggenheim's fabulous rock documentary "It Might Get Loud" at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. We were enjoying the beautiful weather and talking about the film as we turned left onto Broadway so I could catch the R train at Prince St. As we approached the southeast corner of Broadway and Houston, I was immediately distracted by the sight of two half-naked young boys dancing in bathing suits at the entrance of the new flagship Hollister store in Soho. I could hear the music from inside the store blasting out onto the sidewalk at what seemed like at least 90 decibels. This combined with the sight of these scantily clad lads beckoning passersby to enter the store was too ridiculous not to pass up (not only were they wearing swimsuits and flip-flops on a NYC street, but the design team also made them don white sunscreen on their noses as if they were lifeguards at the beach, seriously?!?). I turned to Kiko and said, "should we go inside and check it out?" He agreed that we just HAD to see this.
As we walked into the doorway we were immediately greeted by two more model-esque employees, another male in swimming trunks and a pre-pubescent waifishly thin girl in a bikini. Both were dancing and abnormally happy to be at work. Kiko whispered in my ear, "I think you have to do drugs before coming to work here, this shit is just not normal." A few more steps in and I saw a security guard to my left who also looked like he just left a casting call before heading to work. Yes at the Hollister store even the security staff is gorgeous.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the brand, Hollister is So-Cal inspired clothing brought to us by the folks over at Abercrombie and Fitch. The concept is designed to attract consumers aged 14-24 through its surfer-cool image and casual wear with prices slightly lower than the latter. The first store opened in 2000 in Columbus, Ohio (near the company's headquarters) and the brand relies heavily on "walking self-marketing," where wearing an item of clothing from Hollister (the majority are branded with the name, initials, & fictional date of establishment and the flying seagull logo) results in direct advertising. They even take the SoCal theme to the extreme by categorizing the merchandise as "Dudes" (men) and "Bettys" (women).
As we walked through the store I couldn't help but feel that I was at a party in the Hollywood Hills at someone's mansion, with the music blasting, dimly lit hallways, separate room divisions for each "department." I was waiting for a cater-water to turn the corner and offer me a mojito and a spicy tuna roll. Unfortunately there were no models passing drinks and h'ordeuvres, just jovial sales people who popped out of hidden corners constantly greeting me and asking how I was doing as they danced to the tunes. Strange.
The design team definitely took the Cali beach shack theme to a whole new level with their flagship store. They achieved in making me feel like I was in a jungle and no longer in NYC. Even the faux window panes throughout the store play live-feed from "Surf City" Huntington Beach, CA providing the flavor of the SoCal surf atmosphere. The store is 4 floors and 40,000 square feet and just opened on July 16th. While I was in the store I couldn't help but notice how dumbfounded all of its patrons were. People just walked around aimlessly with wide eyes and gaping mouths. It's as if they were at a museum and playing the role of voyeur. I honestly don't know how you could actually "shop" in a place like this, there are too many distractions and creepily friendly employees for someone like me to concentrate. This of course is solely my opinion, you be the judge.
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