Century 21 opens concept store on Staten Island

Dive Brief:

Century 21 Stores, on April 2 at the Staten Island Mall in New York opened a 5,000-square foot concept store entitled Century 21 Edition, featuring a curated selection of designer women's shoes, accessories, sunglasses, watches, handbags and fragrances.
The off-price retailer has partnered with Canadian company LXRandCo, which specializes in modern vintage luxury handbags and accessories and verifies authenticity of those items, on an exclusive assortment of vintage designer handbags, accessories, jewelry and watches from top brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Hermès, according to a company press release.
The concept store is a new strategy to highlight a "best of the best" curated assortment, the company said. In recent years, the company opened three new stores, in City Point, Brooklyn; Sawgrass Mills, FL; and Cross County, Yonkers, NY.

Dive Insight:

Privately owned Century 21 — CEO Raymond Gindi is one of the founders' sons — was founded in 1961 and over 55 years became a favorite of New York City's bargain hunters. The retailer caught the attention of the nation when its downtown Manhattan flagship was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks; the company rebuilt in the same area.

The retailer remains a New York institution, operating in the off-price sector that is one of retail's current bright spots. Other New York locations include Lincoln Square, Brooklyn, Queens, Yonkers, Long Island and now Staten Island. The company also has stores in Philadelphia; in Paramus, Morristown and Elizabeth, NJ; and in Florida, and has run a pop-up on the West Coast.

The Staten Island project is a twist on its high-end offering, according to Gindi. "The goal of Century 21 Edition will be to showcase our most coveted merchandise, allowing us to quickly modify our assortment based on market demands," he said in a statement.

Although it doesn't occupy a footprint nearly as large as those of off-price retailers like TJX Cos. or Ross, Century 21 is enjoying the benefits of operating in sector that remains poised for growth of some $18 billion to $19 billion of incremental sales by 2021, according to a note last year from JPMorgan analysts. That's coming primarily at the expense of department stores, which combined have lost $25 billion in sales since 2011 and are on pace to lose another $22 billion sales over the next five years, the analysts, led by Matthew Boss, wrote in September.