In 1954, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a luxury showroom for car importer Max Hoffman at 430 Park Ave. in Midtown. It included spiraling ramps and a rotating turntable to showcase cars, and helped inspire his Guggenheim museum.When the lease expired for Mercedes-Benz — its longest tenant — in 2013, it was demolished. Mercedes then moved to its spectacular showroom along “Auto Row” on Eleventh Avenue between West 42nd and West 58th streets.
Now, carmakers once again are seeking unique, and uniquely beautiful, ways to bond with potential buyers.
“I’ve seen a lot [of automakers] in the market out there looking at spaces,” says Jason Pruger, executive managing director at NGKF.
“It makes sense from all the ‘experience stores’ we see in retail that automotive is turning to experience to engage the customer in their brands and explain the technology,” says Michael Kadosh, senior vice president of CBRE.
Numerous automakers are leasing new spaces and remaking their service facilities and showrooms, the latest being Volvo’s 60,000 square feet in the retail space of the rental tower Sky at 605 W. 42 St. Kadosh brokered that deal.Other companies, like Tesla, are using highly designed and attractively lit smaller storefronts, plus utilizing public exhibits and events that go far beyond the simple parked car in a store or a mall.
One of Tesla’s storefronts — ideal for showing off the bells and whistles of its higher-priced vehicles — will open at 860 Washington St. in the Meatpacking District sometime this year.
For its part, when it opens this year at nearby 412 W. 14th St., Intersect by Lexus will have gear and products that “harmonize” with the car brand’s philosophy, along with food offerings from star chef Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. It will also have a roof deck, events, art and — oh yes — cars.
The Toyota-owned brand already has similar spots in both Tokyo and Dubai. At these places, customers can engage with Lexus through food, design, art, fashion, music and technology at inviting eateries, curated libraries and innovative garages.
Over the last 18 months, Bentley has hosted multi-day events around the country, including one in the Meatpacking District. While these serve to introduce new cars to both customers and the media, the automaker has no plans for a permanent US site, a spokesman confirms in an email.
But across the pond at the Westfield London mall, Bentley has opened a luxury “personalization studio” that includes emotional recognition technology, which determines user engagement through facial and emotional reactions.
Based on just the physical feedback from prospective buyers, the studio can recommend a bespoke Bentayga or Mulsanne model along with exterior paint colors, wheels, leather and wood veneer. The Bentayga SUV starts at $229,100, while the price tag for the Mulsanne is more than $338,000.
“This is for the top 1 percent of the 1 percent,” says Richard Hodos, vice chairman of CBRE.
Back on this side of the Atlantic, in the Financial District’s Westfield World Trade Center mall, a 2,000-square-foot Ford Hub concept store will soon open in a concourse. Kadosh, who also represented Ford in the deal, points out that the American automaker’s clients are some of the very same commuters and shoppers who pass through or work in the area on a daily basis.
Along with the storefront, Ford will be creating larger displays and hosting events within the giant central Oculus above the PATH station.
“We are getting away from the days when you come into a mall and sign up for the [car] raffles,” Kadosh adds.
Then there’s Cadillac. To promote a hipper image, the General Motors division moved its own headquarters at 330 Hudson St. in Hudson Square. Last year, it opened the 12,000-square-foot Cadillac House and event space at the base of the building.
Here, visitors can sip coffee from local chain Joe, check out art and fashion exhibits, and explore various auto options.
Other corporations are exploring or implementing out-of-the-box showroom strategies — but not necessarily in New York.
Back in 2012, Kia considered opening a concept store in London to coincide with the Olympics, but in the end decided not to proceed.
The Korean brand is now focused on bringing assisted and autonomous driving to its lineup. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a year ago, it showed off its new technology with virtual reality headsets. Meanwhile, in France, Toyota has a major flagship showroom on the Champs-Élysées called Le Rendez-Vous Toyota. Futuristic cars sometimes hang from the ceiling, and visitors can learn about the company’s green initiatives and other projects.
Says Hodos, “It wouldn’t surprise me if more auto companies did that kind of concept store on Fifth Avenue.” Get ready to start your engines.
