Printemps' store on One Wall Street in New York City.
New York City boasts some of the world’s most distinctive shopping experiences and is a hub for innovation and cutting-edge retail strategies. NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show provides an exceptional opportunity to explore these stores and learn about them firsthand.
Retail Store Tours are expert-led, highly curated, time efficient guided walking tours of cutting-edge stores. Sign up to tour a store in NYC during Retail’s Big Show.
“New York sets the standard for experiential retail,” says Daniel Hodges, CEO of Retail Store Tours, which hosts curated, expert-led tours during NRF 2026; Retail Store Tours is also the official provider of store tours for NRF Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific and Europe. Each tour at NRF 2026 will be offered in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Chinese. The tours are based on retailer feedback and offer exclusive access to senior retail executives in the city.
In choosing which stores to highlight, the company evaluates retail establishments on their use of human touch, technology, store design, brand story, employee training, change management, unique value proposition and shopper safety.
Here are Hodges’ recommendations for 10 stores to visit during the upcoming NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in New York City.
One Wall Street
Since 1865, Printemps Paris has been among the world’s leaders in the retailing of fashion, luxury and beauty goods. Printemps New York represents the next step in its brand transformation, continuing and accelerating the reinvention of this celebrated French department store.
Located in a landmark building in the heart of New York’s vibrant financial district, Printemps New York offers a unique take on the way a local touch can be blended with effortless shopping. While visiting Printemps New York, shoppers can make use of an in-store spa or choose among five different dining experiences under the culinary aegis of Gregory Gourdet. Each showcases an aspect of France’s culinary legacy but with a decidedly New York twist.
727 Fifth Avenue
Architect Peter Marino designed the new interiors of The Landmark as part of Tiffany & Co.’s first holistic renovation of its 186-year-old flagship store in nearly a century. The result is 10 stories that celebrate the extraordinary in an extraordinary fashion. The new focus is on experiences, from a meal at Daniel Boulud’s Blue Box Café to the Audrey experience, which pays homage both to the iconic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s and to the cultural impact of the house.
More than 40 works by such prominent artists as Daniel Arsham, Jenny Holzer and Rashid Johnson are installed throughout the store, accenting Tiffany & Co.’s own unrivaled craftsmanship.
23 East 57th Street
The brand’s most ambitious stateside boutique to date, the House of Dior New York weaves together heritage, craftsmanship and comfort in a way that feels both expansive and deeply personal. Showcasing an intentionality that’s unique even for luxury retail, each floor of the boutique is arranged into what feels like a series of living rooms — warm, inviting and intimate.
Art installations and sculptural details punctuate the shopper’s journey from women’s leather goods to men’s tailoring to fine jewelry. A spa on the top floor offers facial and body treatments in cocoonlike rooms.
754 Fifth Avenue
Bergdorf Goodman’s history is marked by its transformation from a tailor’s shop to a premier luxury department store. Founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf, the store has undergone several significant moves and expansions. The first location was on 32nd Street; it later moved to its current site at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street in 1928.
The store has been a destination for American and French fashion, introducing innovative ready-to-wear clothing and attracting interest from the Italian, French and American fashion industries. Over the years, Bergdorf Goodman has become synonymous with luxury, elegance and superior service, making it a symbol of refined taste and style.
881 Broadway
Sited in a beautifully restored nineteenth-century building that once housed the city’s largest department store, the flagship location of Crate & Barrel occupies massive ground-floor space — flooded with light from tall, street-facing windows that let in the energy of the city.
The services offered inside the store likewise draw on that energy. Shoppers can find bestselling items across every home category as well as artisan products such as Smithey cookware and Apotheke home fragrances inspired by the city’s creative community.
12 West 20th Street
Farther down Fifth Avenue, Pottery Barn’s Chelsea store offers a collection of expertly crafted furniture and home accessories as well as lighting fixtures, rugs and window treatments. The Pottery Barn brand focuses on bringing casual style to every room in the home.
935 Broadway
The world’s only official Harry Potter retail emporium, the Harry Potter Store provides an immersive experience unlike any other, with 15 themed areas offering photo opportunities and exclusive products that celebrate the wizarding world. From toys to rare collectibles, it houses the largest collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts products under one roof.
650 Fifth Avenue
Nike created this singular retail location with the intent to inspire athletes around the world. Making use of new systems and new technologies as well as new standards, the Nike House of Innovation NYC provides real-time, expert advice on all things sport and style as well as the Nike By You program, which allows shoppers to customize products using experimental graphics inspired by the Air Max Dn8.
1 American Dream Way, East Rutherford, N.J.
American Dream is among the largest indoor theme parks in the United States. Among the many notable attractions that complement its retail mission are Big Snow and the DreamWorks Water Park. Big Snow is the first and only year-round, indoor, real-snow ski resort. Similarly, the DreamWorks Water Park is the largest indoor water park in North America, featuring the world’s largest indoor wave pool as well as an array of water slides, a multilevel play structure and luxury cabanas.
44 Union Square East
Far beyond all the food, treats, toys and leashes one would expect to find at any pet store, Petco’s Union Square bi-level flagship offers an array of curated services that complement its retail sales. The store has cat and dog groomers who offer baths in addition to nail trims and haircuts, as well as dog trainers who take on the behavioral issues of both puppies and adult dogs. There is even an in-store veterinary hospital that provides routine vaccinations as well as acute care and emergency services.
Retail Store Tours has designed five tours to provide insights into the latest industry innovations and trends. Although these time-efficient walking tours can be booked during Retail’s Big Show, many retailers arrive early to experience one or more of these tours without the pressure of time conflicts.
Each tour is an expert-led look behind the scenes at cutting-edge design, technology, customer engagement and employee training strategies.
Designed for tech and social media savvy retailers, this tour provides a technologically enhanced experience. It focuses on such aspects as smart, integrated digital signage, social media experiences, AR experiences and revolutionary displays.
Nowhere are the scale and diversity of retail more pronounced than in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, known worldwide for its innovative artistry and artfulness. Here, retail is unbound, spilling all over the streets in a kaleidoscope of forms. Side by side with iconic stores are avant-garde pop-ups that won’t be around tomorrow. The randomness is inspirational, and it adds to the neighborhood’s excitement. We’ll show you why SoHo is the place where brands come to reinvent themselves.
On this tour, we will meet with Fifth Avenue’s best-in-class retailers offering the finest shopping in New York City. For more than a century, these retailers have defined what it means to be glamorous here and around the world. In addition to Tiffany & Co., we will learn from the executives who run such flagship boutiques as Gucci, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman.
The thriving Flatiron District offers the widest range of décor, furniture and flagship concept stores in the city. Our tour of this district will focus on the design-driven hospitality that distinguishes many of the new business models being tested here.
In addition to being the center of the global economy, Wall Street is also a birthplace of innovation. That searching for new and improved methods has influenced the neighborhood’s retail sector as well. This tour takes participants behind the scenes for an exclusive view of the innovations taking hold in the Financial District’s food, fashion, and luxury destinations.
