An Asics flagship store was once located 120 42nd Street near Bryant Park, but closed less than a year after opening in 2015. The featured item inside the store was actually a retired New York City subway car, which still sits inside the empty storefront although everything else has been removed. The subway car, number 8394, has a particularly globetrotting story, built in 1961 and 1962 by the St. Louis Car Company and operated on the A line. Retired in 1993, it was used for a decade on Hollywood sets for films like a Money Train, Die Hard and Godzilla.
Car 8394 was found abandoned in the Mojave desert in June 2014 and restored by artisans in Burbank, California over the course of 42 days. It returned to New York City in October 2014 and installed in the Asics store, which was designed to be “a tribute to the city’s history and consumers’ inner athletes.” The subway car, with one end open as well as the doors, was used as a visual display piece for the sneakers and apparel inside, and visitors could walk in and out of it.
The store closed due to a dispute between the brand and the Japanese company operating its retail stores in America and is awaiting a new tenant.
Next, read about the Top 10 Secrets of Bryant Park.
