One year after opening its flagship location in the greater Chicago area, Wayfair announced that its newest in-person store will find a home at Ridge Hill in Yonkers. The location will span approximately 114,000 square feet and boast 19 departments, ensuring that all home needs are met, and will provide visitors with affordable and quality furniture, decor, and more.
Why Westchester
When elaborating on why the brand chose to open a store in Yonkers, Lisa Lefkowski, the vice president of merchandising and stores at Wayfair, says, “New York is one of the most design-savvy and diverse markets in the world, and Ridge Hill gives us the ideal canvas to bring our immersive retail experience to life. The Yonkers location allows us to serve a wide customer base – from Manhattan to Westchester and beyond – while delivering the accessibility and flexibility Wayfair is known for.” Wayfair sees Westchester for what many know it to be – a place with impeccable taste and accessibility to New York City, northern New Jersey, and upstate New York.
Lefkowski also expresses how opening the first physical store has impacted the brand in ways it never imagined. “Our Wilmette [Illinois] store showed us that a thoughtfully designed in-person experience can attract new audiences and drive meaningful growth. We’re confident that Yonkers will build on that momentum and extend our brand’s reach in one of the country’s most dynamic home markets, while delivering an immersive shopping experience.”
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Considering that of the 750,000 visitors in the past year at the Illinois location, 50% were new customers to Wayfair, the growth is something to admire. The brand is expecting to see similar, if not better, growth from the new Yonkers location.
Lessons and Growth for Westchester Location
When asked about the successes of the Wilmette location, Lefkowski emphasizes Wayfair’s community engagement efforts, sharing, “We’ve created over 120 local jobs and established a strong community presence through events and partnerships like our ongoing work with Connections for the Homeless.”
The plan is to continue this growth and success, create more local jobs, and give back to the community in the Yonkers location, which will provide Westchester businesses with more traffic and positively impact the community.
Lefkowski admits that there were challenges with opening the store in Wilmette, stating that “launching our first large-format store came with a learning curve. We spent time understanding how customers want to shop in-store versus online, and how best to translate our digital strengths into a physical setting.”
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However, she notes that she’s confident the brand will be able to turn the challenges faced into actionable items for the Yonkers location.
“We’re taking what we’ve learned in Wilmette and building on it, whether it’s how we lay out the store, curate our assortment, or train our teams,” she says. “Every store we open will be uniquely tailored to the needs of its local community, and we’re confident that the Westchester location will reflect both our learnings and our commitment to making the shopping journey easy and inspiring.”
Expanding From Digital to Physical and Introducing Wayfair Verified
The shift from the digital space to the physical isn’t easy, but Wayfair is committed to making the transition a smooth one.
The physical store will give seasoned Wayfair customers an experience that they haven’t had access to yet: getting to see, feel, and experience the pieces in a space before purchasing them.
“This store is designed to bring our vast online selection to life,” Lefkowski explains. “Shoppers can test out furniture, feel fabrics, explore layouts, and get inspired by full-room setups. We provide design services in-store to make it easy for customers to style a room or receive support for projects such as kitchen or bathroom renovations. Many items will be available to take home the same day, while larger pieces – like sofas – can be seamlessly ordered for fast, free delivery from our nearby fulfillment center in [northern] New Jersey.”
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This location will provide buyers with the ability to see the pieces themselves before purchase, and the addition of design services being accessible to customers will be a great option for those who need assistance with a full redesign of an area of their home.
Additionally, this store will feature Wayfair Verified, a curation of pieces loved by Wayfair customers.
“Wayfair Verified is designed to give our customers a shortcut to the best items in the Wayfair catalog across every style and price point,” Lefkowski shares. “Each item in the Wayfair Verified program is loved by our customers and has been carefully and rigorously evaluated for quality and value by our team of product specialists and merchants.”
Excitingly, Lefkowski adds that the new location “will also include The Porch, our in-store café offering light bites, soups, salads, and handheld favorites.” The Porch was introduced in the Wilmette location and has been so popular that Wayfair is bringing it to Westchester. This cafe will provide customers with a comfortable in-store experience.
Opening and Groundbreaking Information
While there is no information on groundbreaking or specific opening dates at this time, the team shares that it plans to open in early 2027.
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