Wave One is one of the Stone Harbor shops that offer a great variety of cutting-edge sportswear from Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas—sportswear that has become so popular today.
But Wave One has found a very clever way to set itself apart from the other stores.
For years on most summer evenings, Wave One featured a seamstress sitting in the window sewing colorful letters on heavyweight sweatshirts. The live display captured the attention of passers-by as they took time to watch the demonstration.
Recently, store owner Peter Oppenheimer saw a scene with live mannequins in a movie and thought “Why not do that at Wave One Stone Harbor?”
So in the summer of 2008, Oppenheimer kicked off what has become the most unique window display on 96th Street.
Summer employees, mainly high school and college students working for the summer, most of whom are athletes, voluntarily participate in “mannequin nights.”
On Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7 to 9 p.m., Wave One employees model the season’s most popular styles, posing as still as possible in the huge window on 96th Street. The live mannequins work in pairs for 20-minute shifts.
The models choose their outfits from the stock and prepare detailed written plans coordinating the clothes and poses they will perform. Allowing the employees to choose what they wear and how they pose immerses them in the process, encouraging creativity and teamwork.
“They love it,” says Oppenheimer. “It’s as much fun for the employees as it is for the customers and passers-by.”
He even believes some of the kids actually apply for jobs at Wave One because of the opportunity to pose in the window.
Most nights, when the live mannequins are in the window, people walking by stop and do a double-take trying to figure out if the mannequins are real people or not.
Crowds begin to form some people will try to make the models smile or move by pounding on the window or making funny faces and gestures. The models have gotten very good at ignoring the distractions.
The live window mannequins have created a terrific buzz around town about Wave One, now referred to as “that cool store with the live mannequins.”
The positive attention is very good for Wave One and its neighbors, significantly adding to the electric atmosphere that is 96th street. It’s been a successful marketing strategy—one that Oppenheimer plans to continue.