Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1076820
38 A s the jet set took up residence in snow-blanketed Aspen for the winter holiday, Dallas' luxury retailer Forty Five Ten quietly made its debut in the tony ski town. Located on the first floor of the Aspen Core building, which wraps the downtown corner of Hunter Street and Hyman Avenue, Forty Five Ten Aspen is an intimate 877 square feet — but one filled with sartorial eye candy, including a robust designer roster of men's and women's labels. The wares are an appropriate fit for the mountain-resort crowd, with cozy Monse sweaters, a bubblegum-pink Rosie Assoulin silk trench, and a Saks Potts fur-trimmed leather coat. Shoes, accessories, and other posh accoutrements also stock the shelves: Robert Clergerie and Delpozo footwear, bags by Wandler and Hunting Season, and fine jewels from Sidney Garber, Kimberly McDonald, and Foundrae. Also in store are British designer Tom Dixon's home wares, and Nancy Kwon's minimalist ceramics. The Aspen store's interiors nod to the '70s, with vintage Pierre Paulin furniture, plush velvet drapery, and metallic silver wallpaper. "Forty Five Ten is bringing something totally unique to Aspen: a culturally relevant mix of products that are interesting to our customer," says Stephen Summers, Dallas-based real estate magnate and Highland Park Village co-owner — who also co-owns Aspen Core. In addition to Aspen and the Dallas flagship on Main Street, Forty Five Ten has shops in Napa and Miami. A 16,000-square-foot store is slated to open this spring in New York City's $20 billion Hudson Yards development, with Cartier, Tory Burch, and New York's first Neiman Marcus as neighbors. The NYC store will be the second largest for Forty Five Ten, which Dallas-based Headington Companies acquired in 2014. Forty Five Ten Aspen, 535 E. Hyman Ave., Aspen, Colorado, fortyfiveten.com. Linden Wilson ASPEN OR BUST W hile most mid-December Saturdays are booked long in advance with holiday celebrations, one such night brought hundreds to Plano's Legacy West for a glimpse of Serena Williams. The tennis legend was in town for a pop-up celebrating her womenswear label at the newly opened 14,000-square-foot Neighborhood Goods, an innovative department-store concept with a rotating lineup of unique brands, founded by Matt Alexander and Mark Masinter. According to Alexander and Masinter, there's more opportunity in brick-and-mortar than ever before — it's just in need of some updates. The duo proposed a fresh take on the traditional multi- brand store, one that would create an environment for brands to engage with shoppers in ways they can't anywhere else. "It's a more modern way of presenting retail to you that's less to do with transaction and more to do with experience," says Alexander, a graduate of Southern Methodist University. Their idea quickly caught the attention of venture capital firms, celebrity investors (including Serena Williams), real estate developers, consumer start-ups, and national brands, garnering nearly $6 million in its first round of seed funding — a staggering figure in the start-up retail world. Current labels range from streetwear line Stadium Goods and direct- to-consumer mattress and bedding brand Allswell, to Reese Witherspoon's lifestyle concept, as well as works by artist and designer Rob Wilson. "The relationship we're cultivating here is an experimental one," Alexander says of the new retailer/brand dynamic. "The brands already have the web; some of them have their own stores and, in some cases, apps. We're encouraging the designers to see us as an entirely different channel." The team tapped Droese Raney Architecture to design the store, which is open, bright, and dynamic enough to suit the constantly evolving wares. "I think we all strive to create that magnetic moment of physical design that pulls a phone out of a pocket to take a picture," Alexander said when asked about the design just before they opened last year. And then came a quick sign-off in a way only a millennial entrepreneur could get away with: "Gotta go," he said. "They are putting the sign up, and I think it might be our first Instagram moment." Neighborhood Goods, 7300 Windrose Ave. at Legacy West, neighborhoodgoods. com. Lisa Collins Shaddock HEY, NEIGHBOR Neighborhood Goods Forty Five Ten Aspen