Welcome To Westchester, West Elm

Folks in need of some retail therapy tried to shop at the not-quite-opened West Elm store on Post Road in Scarsdale Wednesday.

The new store, which was putting up finishing touches and training staff yesterday, had to turn away customers wanting to peruse the aisles. The store had a soft opening from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. last night, with partial proceeds benefitting . West Elm will hold its official, grand opening for the public today.

The Brooklyn-born store, with a bit of a cult following by all those interior design and home decor fashionistas, is now located next to the Chase Bank in the Vernon Hills shopping plaza on the Scarsdale/Eastchester line.

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It is the only store in the suburban Westchester area, with two stores in Manhattan and the original in Brooklyn. There are a total of 39 stores nationwide, according to Abigail Jacobs, vice president of public relations and brand marketing.

Jacobs gave Patch a tour on Wednesday and showed off the new fall collection.

West Elm in Scarsdale is the first store in the country to have the new fall collection on display, she said. The collection, featuring home furnishings and decor created by 16 artists in South Africa, is front and center once entering the shop.

The retail store, brimming with everything from pillows to couches to comforters, is "really inspired by nature, ethnic and traditional handicrafts," Jacobs said.

Although the customer base is broad, she said many shoppers have dubbed West Elm as an "eclectic" place to shop for the home.

The Scarsdale store also has a kitchen section, something new to the West Elm chain. Only the Los Angeles and Seattle shops also have this display, she said.

From plates to trays to mugs to knives, the collection is affordable and made to mix and match, Jacobs said. For example, all the plates are the same shape, so customers can layer them, mixing colors, patterns and styles.

For the organic-seeking shoppers, West Elm sells an array of organic bedding starting at $69, according to Jacobs.

The store also promotes a hands-on experience, letting shoppers play with pieces of fabric and designing their own room on computers in the Design Studio. The store even offers free home service, where an employee will do a home-visit to measure items and spacing for the customer, she noted.

West Elm encourages shoppers to "look at the tags and talk to the associates," Jacobs said. "A lot of our pieces are very special."

Many are handmade in other countries, including traditional, "wedding-quilt" pillows made by hand in India and a paper-mache animal bust made in Haiti.

The Scarsdale store has a staff of 35 part-time and full-time employees.

West Elm is located at 678 Post Road. The hours of operation are Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

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