NYGÅRD Fashion

I had to return pants that my mom bought online and the cashier seemed confused at the transaction. In the end she figured it out. This four-​star store got one star deducted because they don’t give refunds, only store credit.
The place is smaller than expected, and made smaller by the cramped merchandise displays. It looked like they were trying to stuff as much clothing as possible into the little space available. Plus side — the store was brightly lit and looked clean with a good sized fitting room.

Cute store, great customer service. The clothes are for women 25+, but I would say 35+ is slightly more accurate. They always have sales on so the prices end up being very reasonable. What I think really makes the store stand out is that the sales people really, really know how to put an outfit together for you.
Nygard’s clothing is great for women who want to wear something cute to work and not have to get changed before heading out for dinner or drinks.

Super cute clothes, affordable, a little bit edgy, well-​coordinated with accessorie. Polite service, frequent sales… what more could you ask for? This is not couture; it’s accessible streetwear. An added bonus — most of the items I’ve bought travel exceotionally well — they’re durable, easy to wash by hand, dry quickly, low maintenance, etc. Nygard is a WIN for New York shoppers.

It took several years to build Nygard headquarters on 40^th and Broadway, so I couldn’t help but attend the grand opening of their flagship concept store today (I work across the street so my curiousity overwhelmed me).
The store itself was a little smaller than I expected which is a tough venue considering the wide range of merchandise they sell from clothing to shoes to accessories. It seemed like they tried to cram as much stuff onto the racks which made it feel like a micro-​version of a Filene’s Basement.
Other concept stores that I’ve been to usually take the latter approach and present a minimalist environment that highlights ‘themes’ and ‘styles’ instead of entire clothing lines. The goal is to partially educate consumers what’s new with the brand, but to also gauge the popularity of certain pieces of merchandise. In other words, it’s mainly about brand awareness and market research instead of generating sales. Fewer items at one time… with frequent rotations on the floor/​racks… is what a ‘concept’ store is in my mind.
The fashion line itself looks pretty good and comparable to similar clothing lines on the market… plus it’s reasonably priced. In case you were unaware, Nygard doesn’t create high-​end luxury fashion wear. Their merchandise is primarily casual sportswear with flare intended for average cost-​conscious consumers… which makes the current economic climate perfect for a launch into a new market.
During their première fashion show today, there were items that made me cringe… but you can’t blame a designer for being a little edgy with fashion concepts. However, most of the items that I saw were things that I could totally see people wearing on the streets of NY. In fact, a few times it was a tough to tell if it was a model or a random woman walking down the cat-​sidewalk. Nygard is definitely wearable.
I should also point out that everyone in the store is super nice as you would expect from Canadians, eh? Take this with a grain of salt since it was their grand opening after all… but managers and store employees were more than happy to talk to people on the streets regardless of race or socio-​economic class.
NYC is a tough fashion market, but I applaud Nygard for putting his poker chips ‘all in’ to claim a stake in this market. Now if he could only take his picture off his building then I’d be happy… as I’ve been staring at it every day for the past several years. :-p