Landmark Renovation Reaffirms Commitment to Hometown Community and Creates a New Cultural Destination in DUMBO, Brooklyn
Home furnishings retailer West
Elm is relocating its headquarters and opening its 100th retail
store within the landmark Empire Stores, the new Brooklyn Bridge Park
cultural complex along the East River. As an active partner in the
restoration, West Elm helped lead conversations about how to best
reinvent the late 19th century coffee roasting facility and
warehouse, thereby reestablishing its active role in community life. The
LEED Silver Certified building, incorporating architectural elements
from the original structure including storied schist walls and arched
brick windows, is expected to have seven floors of private and public
spaces, including corporate offices, a rooftop park, restaurants, and
retail stores.
“At our core, West Elm is a start-up Brooklyn brand. So we were happy to
support our hometown by making an early commitment to Empire Stores as
its anchor tenant. And we were fortunate to connect with the right
development partner in Midtown Equities, who shared our vision and
willingness to invest in our community,” said Jim Brett, president of
West Elm. “The offices will also showcase our belief in Design to
Impact, featuring handcrafted installations by local and global artisans
who we are committed to supporting through our growth.”
West Elm opened its new headquarters with more than 300 in-house
designers, merchants, planners and creative teams. The 97,650 square
foot office, a showcase for Workspace, West Elm’s contract furniture
line, reflects the brand’s core tenets of choice, community and
consciousness.
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Choice: Workspace products and solutions offer a variety of aesthetic
and functional options for shaping individual work environments.
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Community: Inspiring and innovative common spaces, from
cross-functional staircases, to coffee and revitalizing bars, along
with indoor and outdoor meeting areas that promote conversation,
collaboration and creativity;
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Consciousness: Building a sense of place and purpose by including
recycled materials from the original Empire Stores structure and
nearly 170 handcrafted works commissioned from artisan partners around
the globe.
“Our headquarters and new Brooklyn store further cements our hometown
roots,” says Brett. “And Empire Stores sets the stage for West Elm and
DUMBO to become the newest destination for New Yorkers and visitors
alike to experience what makes our neighborhood special.”
The West Elm retail store at Empire Stores, opening August 18 at 8 am,
serves as a gathering spot for customers to shop unique designs at a
great value, discover local New York-based makers and artisans, and
connect with other members of the community over a cup of coffee or at a
LOCAL pop up event. Like its headquarters, the store architecture and
design aesthetic pays homage to the original warehouse, incorporating
salvaged materials into its design features, from a uniquely patterned
floor featuring reclaimed support columns to a mural of the Brooklyn
Bridge made entirely of reclaimed pine. Additional store highlights
include:
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A first look at new limited edition collaborations and the 2016
holiday assortment featuring ASPCA, Casper, Sonos, St. Jude Children’s
Hospital and Whole Foods Market
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A LOCAL selection of 16 New York-based makers and artisans, including:
Brooklyn illustrators Two
Arms Inc,
Lark
and Raven LLC, offering up cheeky greeting cards and stationery,
and In
The Seam’s eccentric pillows inspired by photography
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West Elm Market, complete with a coffee shop operated by Brooklyn
Roasting Company and a communal area to be used for socializing and
workshops
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The Design Lab, offering complimentary design services to support
customers in their journey to discover and express their personal
style at home
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Smart speakers by Sonos, the best home sound system, in the store’s
Loft
For up-to-date information on in-store promotions and events, customers
are encouraged to Like the West Elm DUMBO store on Facebook: www.facebook.com/westelmdumbo
and follow the store on Instagram: @westelmdumbo.
West Elm DUMBO is open Mon.–Sat. 8am–8pm and Sun. 11am–7pm. The store’s
address is 2 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11201 and the phone number is
(718) 243-0149.
About West Elm
Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY since 2002, West Elm opened its first
store in DUMBO, the neighborhood it still proudly calls home. With the
mission of helping customers express their personal style at home,
everything West Elm does is designed to make an impact in everyday life,
from creating unique to affordable designs for modern living to its
commitment to Fair Trade Certified, from to LOCAL and handcrafted
products to community-driven in-store events and collaborations. The
brand operates 100 retail stores in the United States, Australia, Canada
and the UK, ships internationally to customers around the world and
operates stores in Mexico, the Middle East and Philippines through
unaffiliated franchisees. In addition to home furnishings retail, West
Elm operates West Elm Workspace with Inscape in the commercial
furnishings industry. West
Elm is part of an active community on Facebook,
Instagram,
Pinterest,
Twitter
and YouTube,
and is a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands.
