One of the largest sneaker and clothing brands in the world appears to have Hoboken on the brain as a prominent building along the city’s main drag could soon house one of its factory stores.
A Baby Gap location at 222 Washington Street has already started offering discounts on its items, as it’s slated to close sometime next month. A separate retail space next to the store has been vacant for many years, but Nike looks to change that with an overhaul of the building’s ground floor.
Hoboken’s Historic Preservation Committee heard plans during their December 6 meeting to combine the two storefronts into one larger space spanning about 7,000 square feet. The plan, designed by Nastasi Architects, will replace and reconfigure an entry door while repairing lighting and repainting the exterior façade of the property.
The application submitted to the committee includes Nike’s signature “swoosh” on the signage, but the brand has yet to publicly announce its intentions for the space. Nike has not responded to an inquiry we placed as to whether the property will indeed house one of its factory stores, a retail option that has not yet found its way to Hudson County.
Nike does operate several of its factory stores in Manhattan plus one in Downtown Newark near the headquarters of Prudential. The brand’s other Garden State locations are in malls such as the Bergen Town Center in Paramus, Elizabeth’s The Mills at Jersey Gardens, the Jackson Premium Outlets, and the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets in Tinton Falls.
