Winter is coming — with temperatures as low as -13 degrees Fahrenheit — to the Mall at Short Hills.
Canada Goose, a global manufacturer of highly protective and luxurious outerwear, recently opened a 5,330-square-foot Flagship store in Short Hills, introducing an immersive “Cold Room” that allows customers to truly test the functionality of its products.
“Our ‘Cold Room’ offers an in-store experience for customers to put our products to the test, and as a resource when choosing the right style for them,” Penny Brook, chief marketing officer at Canada Goose, said. “Nowadays, it is key that companies provide their consumers with experiences and incorporate storytelling throughout their brick-and-mortar locations.”
Canada Goose’s intention, she added, is not to divert from its online presence, but complement it.
“This is our third year in the retail world, having opened our first-ever Flagships in 2016,” Brook said. “We’re applying learnings from our consumers and are adjusting the store experience.”
Canada Goose, a more-than-$44 million company originally founded in a small warehouse in Toronto in 1957, has sold parkas, hoodies, jackets, vests, raincoats, snow pants, knitwear, hats, gloves, scarves and more both online and in specialty retail stores such as Summit Ski and Sport in Summit, High Country Sports in Livingston, Garmany in Red Bank and department stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s.
“For more than 60 years, we’ve been tirelessly focused on making function-first apparel,” Brook said. “People who live and work in some of the most extreme climates on Earth rely on our functionality and unparalleled craftsmanship to protect them against the harshest conditions. From Arctic exploration to the city streets of New York City, its this function-first philosophy that ensures our products always work.
“With New Jersey, we found our wholesale channel to be healthy and robust due to both the local demographic, as well as the Northeast climate. There is significant demand for our product there, so it was a natural step to expand our reach into areas in the U.S. that are outside of major metro areas.”
Brook said she hopes that the “Cold Room” will provide education to both new and repeat customers, as well as better equip the 35 employees at the Short Hills Mall location to make sales.
“One of the most amazing things about the ‘Cold Room’ is that it allows people to engage the numerous features of our coats that some consumers may not realize just how necessary they are,” she said. “If you’re not a ‘Gear Junkie,’ you may not know when to engage a snow skirt or the underarm zippers, how to appropriately use our jackets’ draw cords or even why gloves, hats, scarves are essential in protecting you from the elements.
“We’re most excited about watching our fans utilize — and learn — about these functional features that we’ve deliberately designed into each style.”
Canada Goose’s first-ever “Cold Room” debuted with the opening of its Tokyo store last year. The company plans to have a total of five open by the end of this year as it expands into Montreal, Beijing, Vancouver and Hong Kong.
For more information, email shorthills@canadagoose.com or call 973-232-0820.
