Saks Opens Parisian Restaurant In NYC Store

Saks Fifth Avenue has opened up a new restaurant as part of a $250 million project to boost business in its landmark New York City location. The company imported Parisian eatery L’Avenue to make Saks more than just a place to shop.

“I think over time, whether it’s because of the internet or brands opening their own stores or new entrants to the market, making a transaction wasn’t going to be why you came into a department store. You have to come to a department store for other reasons,” Marc Metrick, Saks’ president, told The Wall Street Journal. “That’s what we’re talking about with L’Avenue.”

Owned by the Costes brothers, Jean-Louis and Gilbert, L’Avenue is one of the most well-known restaurants in Paris, with locations in some of the city’s biggest landmarks —the Louvre, the Pompidou Centre, the Esplanade des Invalides and, bien sûr, the intersection of Avenue Montaigne and Rue François 1er.

The new L’Avenue at Saks will serve several of the Thai-inspired specialties that Costes restaurants serve in Paris. And much like its French counterpart, the Saks locations will keep its portions small. The restaurant will boast views of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to the north, while the 30 Rock towers can be seen to the west. The beige and ivory decor was designed by Philippe Starck.

“The restaurant is a big bet,” Metrick said. “You and I both know you’re not going to win on the ninth floor of Saks just by saying, ‘We’re going to have the best food in the city.’ You’re not going to out-restaurant anyone in New York. So we said, ‘How do we build an environment where people are going to want to come whether or not they’re shopping in our store?’ It can’t be kitschy or derivative. The new luxury loves authentic. It doesn’t like fake. It doesn’t like ornate. It likes behind-the-scenes. It likes real.”

And Metrick is thinking beyond just attracting Saks shoppers to the eatery. There is a separate entrance on 50th Street that leads to the restaurant, which will stay open even after Saks closes for business. “I want my customers to eat here, but I want their customers to shop with me,” explained Metrick.

L’Avenue is one of the last projects in a much bigger renovation that will hopefully enable Saks’ brick-and-mortar location to survive after seeing rival Lord & Taylor shut down its own landmark NYC location earlier this month.