Seattle-based Nordstrom has confirmed its plans to open its first Queens location at Onex Real Estate Partners’ The Shops at SkyView Center in Flushing.
The approximately 39,000-square-foot, two-level Nordstrom Rack is scheduled to open Fall 2014.
“We are excited about the opportunity to be a part of a dynamic retail center within a vibrant neighborhood in the heart of Queens and right off the Long Island Rail Road,” said Geevy Thomas, president of Nordstrom Rack, in a prepared statement. “We look forward to opening next fall and bringing our customers the very best of our brands at great prices.”
The announcement follows news that Nordstrom Rack is set to open its first Brooklyn location on Fulton Street in spring 2014 followed by a second location at the Gateway Center in Brooklyn in the fall, said to be 41,000 square feet each.
Long known for its ethnic foods and small businesses, the area has overtaken even Chinatown as a destination for Chinese immigrants, logging a 93 percent spike in its Chinese population between 2000 to 2010, which more recently has been accompanied by rising real-estate prices, a surge in development and growing demand for retail space, the Wall Street Journal noted when it first reported on negotiations for the Queens space.
SkyView, which currently leases space to Target, Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Marshall’s, Restoration Hardware and the specialty Asian supermarket Sky Foods, is part of a $1 billion retail and condo development that rebounded since running into financial problems during the recession.
The Nordstrom Rack brand is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom, which according to the company offers savings between 30 and 70 percent off regular prices found at Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com.
Nordstrom opened its first New York City store, a Nordstrom Rack in Union Square, in 2010.
