Hopeful shoppers were seen peeking into the front entrance of Wayfair, the new retail store in Edens Plaza at 3232 Lake Ave. in Wilmette on May 15.
The front doors were unlocked for a media tour that Wednesday but curious folks who stopped by wondered if the store was open for business. Instead, they learned of a five-day grand opening block party of Wayfair’s inaugural large-format store launching on Thursday, May 23 through May 27. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony is on May 23 at 9:30 a.m.
During those five days, attendees can expect food, activities, surprises and giveaways – plus a Memorial Day sale.
The media preview featured Wayfair’s vice-president, merchandising, brands and stores Liza Lefkowski, Wayfair’s head of physical retail Adam Katz and Wayfair’s head of visual merchandising for physical retail Barclay Resler who gave a tour of the building’s interior.
Signage inside the soaring entrance said (some letters lowercase on purpose), “welcome to the Wayborhood.” Installed at the top of the front atrium is wording, “hey there, neighbor.”
“The corporate brand is every style, every home, we have millions of products available on our website,” Lefkowski said. “This store is meant to bring our brand to life in the truest sense but we can’t bring millions of products into the floor here so we had to be very thoughtful and intentional about how do we create a very kind of warm and approachable atmosphere but with lots of options that feel very easy to navigate.”
The Wayfair store has two retail levels with elevator access or via the grand escalator in the center atrium. At 150,000 square feet, the building, formerly a department store of a familiar name, features the predominant Wayfair color of warm purple.
Shoppers can use Wayfair purple shopping carts during their customer experience. Persons of legal drinking age can sip beer or wine while they shop. Families can dine at The Porch, Wayfair’s onsite restaurant.
The Wayfair store, the first in the country, is meant to be a, “one stop shop for all things home,” according to promotional materials, offering furniture, home decor, housewares and home improvement products.
The store features fluid scenes or vignettes such as suggested family or living room arrangements in styles such as traditional, coastal and modern.
Wayfair associates understand that shoppers may respond in different ways during their store visits and associates are ready to respond, Resler said.
“I think for sure, this is an immersive experience and the first one for us,” Resler said. “People will need to know how to shop and what to expect. We know there is a lot of style range.”
Resler said the question then became how to make the experience easy for shoppers.
“Lots of people find putting things in their home hard to do,” Resler said. “We want to make this easy for them. We are absolutely looking for those people that feel overwhelmed.”
Many Wayfair customers came to know about Wayfair during the COVID-19 pandemic when Facebook and other social media platforms offered wish lists of items they could order at Wayfair’s website.
“We’re hoping that the social media and the campaigns are driving people into the store because something resonated with them,” Resler said, adding design services will help customers curate their desired look.
The second floor, for example, shows customers possibilities to remodel bathrooms and kitchens. Shoppers can walk up to an extended sink and turn on the water of many faucets installed in a row to see for themselves which one they like the best including which kind of nozzle or best range of water spray for their comfort level.
“There are certain things that our customers are thrilled to buy online, obviously with our website, we service that,” Katz said. “But we also noted there are opportunities that customers do want to engage in a physical experience in some way, whether it’s touching, feeling a product, sitting on a sofa to understand exactly what the cushion feels like, talking to an associate if you’re buying an appliance.
“And so,” Katz said, “how do we bring that, basically customer-centric, meet the customer where they want to be? That’s really the vision.”
Wayfair, based in Boston, started the Wilmette project in 2021 in a location they identified as being ideal because of how many young families live in the area.
“It was never a question if we’re going to build a store, it was always a question of when we’re going to build a store,” Lefkowski said. “Our aspiration is to have a portfolio of stores that can be where our customers are and our customer base is national.
Check out the mural on the north side of the store done by artist Alyssa Low, @alyssalowww of Chicago, formerly of Long Grove and a graduate of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.
Wayfair Inc. brands include Wayfair, AllModern, Birch Lane, Joss & Main, Perigold and Wayfair Professional.
Find out more about the grand opening amenities at www.wayfair.com/wayfair-at-edens-plaza-in-wilmette-il~b636.html.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
