NEW YORK — Self Magazine is looking to fuse indulgence with wellness — and raise money for breast cancer — this fall with a 19-day pop-up retail center to be located at 461 Fifth Avenue, at 40th Street.
The 14,000-square-foot space will open Sept. 26 and run through Oct. 21. It will offer spa services by appointment; a walk-in retail environment featuring fashion, footwear, accessories and home design trends; as well as a series of special events. Self looks to host a minimum of 15,000 visitors and raise $500,000.
Last year’s Self Center, which was held for nine days in a much less traveled area of Manhattan, catered to 6,000 visitors and raised $250,000, said Kimberly Kelleher, Self’s vice president and publisher.
The center, which also looks to bring the magazine’s advertisers to life, opens with an invitation-only event on Sept. 26, hosted by Kelleher. Starting the next day, the center will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. Free admission includes access to all complimentary activities, displays, classes and seminars. All attendees will receive a gift bag containing products provided by Self and their sponsors, including Dove hair care, Island Breeze by Bacardi and HGTV.
“These are companies that care and understand that all the proceeds go to charity,” Kelleher said.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Cancer 101, Fertile Hope, National Digital Medical Archive, Shop Well With You, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and Young Survival Coalition will be featured at the center.
Special events are designed to fuel foot traffic, such as customer appreciation days on Oct. 8 and Oct. 15, where consumers with Macy’s receipts of $50 or more of participating sponsors’ products dated between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 are eligible for free mini neck and shoulder massages. Also on those days, Dove hair care will offer free blowouts.
Self reaches more than 5 million readers each month and is published by Condé Nast Publications, which, like WWD, is owned by Advance Publications Inc. Along with Estée Lauder 14 years ago, Self helped develop the Breast Cancer Foundation’s symbolic pink ribbon.