This spring’s liquidation and closure of 355-year-old Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay was the latest sign that, perhaps, North American department stores have gone out of style. On the other hand, The Bay in its final years was far from operating at the top of its game, and there is a growing wave of nostalgia for the glory days of its peers. Case in point: The creative team behind Gossip Girl and The O.C. is currently planning a TV show set in former Manhattan institution Barneys New York. The challenge, for the businesses that remain, is recapturing that bygone magic.
To really restore your faith in the future of large-scale urban retail, head to the NYC location of Printemps, the 5,110-square-metre fashion wonderland designed by...
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Printemps Gives Department Stores an Elegant Makeover
In the wake of Hudson’s Bay’s closure, we tour an NYC department store where the prognosis seems more promising.