CDG UNVEILS ITS FIRST U.S. STANDALONE ‘POCKET’ STORE

Comme des Garçons has opened its first freestanding “Pocket” concept on U.S. soil at Tenth Ave. and 17th Street in New York.

The cutting-edge and influential Japanese brand and retailer, which owns Dover Street Market , unveiled the store yesterday and explained in a statement, “It evokes the modern day convenience store, whose shelves are piled high, thick with produce. A local Pocket shop, like a grocery store, is a place for simple and affordable purchases – it consists of pocket-sized items that you don’t have to think about too much and can buy on a whim.”

The store carries small items from Comme des Garçons’ Play, Wallets and Parfum collections.

Comme des  Garçons launched the Pocket shop concept in Tokyo department store corners in 2007 and added a freestanding one and a Pocket Plus shop in Au Printemps in Paris the following year. Today there are approximately 30 Pocket stores in the world, mostly corners in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. There are also dedicated spaces in the Dover Street Markets of London, New York and Beijing, and the Comme des Garcons stores in Paris, Manila and New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.  In addition, there are freestanding Pocket shops in Singapore, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris and Melbourne.