The Shops and Restaurants at Hudson Yards, the $25 billion megadevelopment's seven-story shopping center, opened to the public on March 15.
The shopping center opened at noon, and as I made my way inside shortly after that time, it was already starting to get crowded.
The shopping center is seven stories tall, but from the main foyer, I could only see up to the fourth floor.
Source: Hudson Yards
The shopping center includes more than 100 stores. I passed by Cartier, as well as Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels, both brands that sell luxury watches and jewelry.
The Shops and Restaurants are open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Source: Hudson Yards
Throughout the shopping center, Hudson Yards features artwork by 13 artists, including this mural by Jamilla Okubo.
Source: Jamilla Okubo
On the first floor is a gallery showcasing the residences at Hudson Yards, which include luxury towers 15 Hudson Yards and 35 Hudson Yards, where condos range from $4.3 million to upwards of $32 million. There's a model of Hudson Yards ...
The shopping center seemed to be dominated by luxury retailers; the Kate Spade store was full of the brand's signature bright colors and prints.
I quickly realized why the store was so crowded: They were serving free Champagne to celebrate opening day.
I headed for the escalators to go up to the next level. One side wasn't functioning so people had to walk up — an unfortunate snafu for opening day.
Near the main entrance of the Shops and Restaurants, a mini red carpet was laid out so people could pose for photos in front of a Hudson Yards-branded backdrop.
Pulsating music was blasting on speakers throughout the shopping center, making me feel a bit like I was at a rave instead of a luxury mall.
As I continued my tour of the shopping center, I realized that many of the shops were serving Champagne or other beverages, and they didn't seem to mind if shoppers walked right out of the store with the glasses.
The escalators are arranged in a way that ensures shoppers have to walk around and pass more shops to get to the next set of escalators. There's no single spot where a set of escalators will take you all the way up.
There are also elevators if you want to go directly to a specific floor.
I passed by what appeared to be a future entrance for Edge, which will be the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. It will open to the public in 2020.
Source: Hudson Yards
The shopping center has more than 25 places to eat and drink. One of these is Citarella, a gourmet food market. It sells grab-and-go meals from sushi to hot soup ...
Source: Hudson Yards
There's also a Shake Shack, which was massively crowded on opening day.
There will also be a 35,000-square-foot food hall from Spanish chef José Andrés called Little Spain, but it wasn't yet open when I visited.
Source: Eater
Bouchon Bakery from chef Thomas Keller sells French-inspired baked goods, pastries, coffee, and other snacks.
For more upscale dining, there's queensyard, a British-inspired restaurant by luxury restaurant group D&D London. Attached is a more casual café.
Source: Business Insider
In addition to all the luxury stores, the shopping center had a Madewell, the J. Crew sister brand ...
"Neiman Marcus Hudson Yards will be all about providing physical and digital experiences in a way not seen at other stores, creating a personal customer experience that is seamless and magical," Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO of Neiman Marcus Group, said in a press release.
Source: Business Journals
The 188,000-square-foot department store spans levels five, six, and seven at the Shops and Restaurants.
In addition to the typical luxury brands including Coach, Burberry, and Chloé, the department store had a pop-up flower shop ...
In addition to its retail and dining options, the Shops and Restaurants at Hudson Yards offers experiences such as Snark Park, an interactive art exhibition space that costs $28.
Kathleen Corless, Related's director of corporate communications, pointed to Snark Park as one of the things that sets apart the Shops and Restaurants from traditional malls. She described it as a "museum-quality design experience, the first of its kind."
3DEN is a mash-up space that includes elements of cafés, co-working spaces, and hotels, where you can find Casper nap pods, a lounge, a meditation room, soundproof phone booths, showers, and more. It costs $6 for 30 minutes.
Source: 3DEN
Jeff Blau, the CEO of Related Companies, the developer behind Hudson Yards, said on Bloomberg TV that the shopping center is "not a mall," but an "urban retail center." The developers have also dubbed it a "vertical shopping experience."
Source: Bloomberg
But for not being a mall, it looked an awful lot like a mall, albeit a fancy one. Corless told me one of the reasons they don't like to call the shopping complex a mall because it's designed differently than a traditional mall.
The shopping center is a million square feet, but only 720,000 square feet of that is leased to tenants, according to Corless.
"So then people say, 'Well, what happened to the other quarter of the space?' The quarter of the space is open space, so it creates these really wide hallways that are more like a street scene," she said.
Corless said it also offers a more curated mix of shops.
To me, the plethora of luxury chain boutiques I saw stands in direct opposition to one of the things that makes New York City great: its access to and variety of unique, family-owned businesses. Of course, the Shops & Restaurants is not alone in being full of luxury chain stores. Shopping centers and malls around the country and in New York City — such as Brookfield Place or Westfield World Trade Center, the largest shopping complex in Manhattan — offer many of the same types of shops.
While I personally don't know many New Yorkers who would make a special trip to shop at this new luxury mall, Hudson Yards certainly seems to be betting that they will.
Source: Bloomberg
