Bloomies is hoping headstands spur $$
Talk about bending over backward to lure shoppers.
The Bloomingdale’s store at East 59th Street will stage a massive, free yoga class on its third floor Saturday afternoon — with customers invited to practice the child’s pose and downward dog where they usually browse contemporary women’s clothing.
Enhancing the spectacle, a yoga teacher from Grokker, the online health-and-fitness instruction site, will be demonstrating pretzel-like poses on a stage that will be flanked by video screens and some 50 mats spread out on a long corridor.
“The idea is to get your gear at the store,” Grokker Chief Executive Lorna Borenstein told The Post. “And to think of Bloomingdale’s as making a statement on wellness.”
Indeed, as desperate retailers try just about everything — cooking classes, music concerts, rock climbing and other gimmicks — to coax shoppers into their stores, Bloomingdale’s is hoping that its yoga-loving customers pick up a pair of leggings or sports bras after the class.
“It’s not hard to imagine that yoga classes will be given at a mall in the not-too-distant future,” Borenstein adds, noting that she has gotten calls from mall operators.
At Bloomingdale’s, the yoga class is part of a Grokker promotion that will go on the road in May, bringing exercise and healthycooking classes to its locations in Santa Monica and San Francisco.
“Health and wellness is important to our customers, and we continually look for innovative ways to help them,” Bloomingdale’s spokeswoman Anne Keating said.
Four-year-old Grokker has similar deals with Aetna, eBay and Rag & Bone, which are offering their employees Grokker subscriptions as a perk — and an alternative to gym memberships.