The National Hockey League (NHL) and Fanatics announced the opening of its 9,000-square-foot NHL Shop flagship store in New York City. The store was relocated from Midtown to Manhattan West, the site of the league’s new corporate headquarters.
Fanatics will have the retail operational experience of Lids, which is partly owned by Fanatics, to support the shopping experience. The store features on-site jerseys, t-shirts and headwear customization. Key brands include Fanatics, Adidas, ‘47, WEAR by Erin Andrews, GIII, and Funko.
“We are thrilled to bring a new NHL Shop flagship store to Manhattan West, the site of our new corporate home in a burgeoning part of New York City,” said Brian Jennings, NHL chief brand officer and senior executive vice president. “Our vision was to build a multi-sensory hockey experience that emotionally connects our fans to the game, teams and players they cheer for. With support from Fanatics and Lids, this world-class retail destination will offer fans an immersive shopping experience with a robust merchandise offering, curated content and unique artifacts from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Along with exciting NHL events we have planned, we hope to entertain, inspire and welcome every hockey fan that walks through our doors.”
The NHL Shop will showcase interactive product displays and mobile POS devices for checkout. The shop has 28 high-definition video walls running programming from the NHL, including live game broadcasts, original NHL productions and real-time content from the NHL and Club social media accounts.
“We believe NHL fans and visitors of New York City alike will enjoy an incredible retail experience inside of the new flagship NHL Shop,” said Gina Sprenger, Fanatics chief strategic retail officer. “The store offers fans a robust assortment, the ability to host special events, player meet and greets, and other unique interactive moments that will make this a can’t miss destination for hockey fans.”
“At Lids, we are excited to leverage our retail expertise to bring a great experience within the NHL flagship store in New York. The store will offer a wide assortment of NHL gear for the entire family plus our ability to customize products in-store,” said Lawrence Berger, co-founder and partner, Ames Watson and chairman, FanzzLids Holdings, owner of Lids.
In addition to retail, the location will be used for events and entertainment for the NHL. Current and former NHL players and hockey luminaries will make appearances both in person and virtually via an AI photo booth. The store also has a history of hockey installation with memorabilia curated by the Hockey Hall of Fame which, when open, will exhibit the evolution of the hockey stick and helmet and the history of the NHL All-Star Game and the men’s and women’s Olympic Ice Hockey competitions.
Starting November 2021, Brookfield Properties, in association with the NHL, will open a 60- by 80-foot ice rink in the center of Manhattan West’s two-acre public plaza. The rink will have outdoor skating for the public and NHL-hosted hockey experiences. Details and programming schedules for the rink will be announced in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy NHL Shop
