SO LONG, SoHo — Fifth and Madison avenues are back. After years of downtown domination, the center of fashion retail is shifting further north than ever — from 49th to 76th streets.
“SoHo’s great,” says designer Michael Kors, who’s opening two shops uptown on Madison Avenue this year. “But it’s a different atmosphere with a different attitude. Up here, you’re not dealing with browsers. People come here to shop.”
Hugo Boss USA is one of many high-style companies opening a multi-brand megastore in the area early next year.
“We have $1,800 sports coats we need to sell,” says Marty Staff, company president. “So we need to be on Fifth Avenue, where people can actually afford them.”
Staff says others reasons for choosing Hugo Boss’ new Fifth Avenue and 54th Street locale includes its high-style neighbors and “the luxury of foot traffic” — meaning deep-pocketed label-loving locals and big spending tourists.
“We’re an upscale brand,” he says. Only three years ago, major designers were heading to SoHo on the heels of trailblazing labels like Helmut Lang, Dolce & Gabbana and Miu Miu (big sister Prada has had a store in the works nearby for years).
Suddenly, SoHo, with its over-crowded, over-peopled streets, has lost its allure.
After a passing flirtation with the quaint streets of NoLIta (North of Little Italy), the avant garde Commes des Garcons label headed for Chelsea and much-hyped designer boutique Jeffrey opened its headquarters in the Meatpacking District, respectively.
Now, Midtown and up are where it’s at.
“We think there’s a slight seismic shift in the retail universe right now,” says Staff. “And Fifth Avenue and 57th Street is the center of this universe.”
What gives?
Well, first consider that for the last year and a half, the style press has been saying haute couture is back, and suggests any glam gal worth her salt has to drip in designer logo-ed bags, shoes and clothes, custom leatherwear and showy furs.
Thanks to a strong economy, even women who don’t normally lunch are buying up brand-name items that often cost as much as a small sports car.
So it makes sense that designers want to be where the shoppers are — and frankly that’s near other designers.
“For the first time, there’s a real concentration of luxury in New York,” says Kors.
“Before, it was scattered. But now this entire stretch — from 57th all the way up to 77th Street — contains over 20 blocks of serious luxury.”
More stores are opening on the grand avenues of Fifth and Madison than at any other time in recent memory.
And they’re paying a pretty penny to do it.
Women’s Wear Daily recently reported that space on Fifth Avenue rents for about $600 per square foot on ground floor, $150 on second and $50 on third — expensive even by New York real estate standards.
And these new retail emporiums aren’t skimping on space — the Hugo Boss store is a massive 23,000 square feet.
The details aren’t inexpensive either. The new retail centers have cafes, VIP rooms, concert space and art exhibits.
The new Hermes store will feature a leather-covered staircase, hand-sewn by artisans flown in from the label’s Paris headquarters.
They may seem like decadent touches, but designers feel the ultimate payoff is worth the steep investment.
“Madison and Fifth avenues are showplaces for merchants who want to reach a free-spending, international clientele,” says a local real estate observer. “And they’re among a handful of streets in the world that provide instant cache.”
