A flurry of Activity Along Fifth Avenue’s prime retail stretch has a wave of newcomers moving into prime locales, while longtime mainstays revamp flagship stores or move into their own new digs.
Blancpain, a luxury offshoot of Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group, has inked a deal for 2,500 square feet of retail space in clothier Gant’s Olympic Tower space at 645 Fifth Avenue. The terms of the new lease were not specified, but retail rates along the avenue between 49th and 58th streets can reportedly run as high as $3,000 per square foot for ground-floor space.
Luxury jeweler Cartier has a new space in the works in the former CBS studio in the GM Building. The high-end retailer will reside in that building while renovating its longtime flagship at 653 Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street, where it recently signed a 25-year renewal. Also in the GM Building, toymaker FAO Schwarz’s lease is set to expire in 2017 and the 60,000 space is already on the market for sublet.
Clothier Ralph Lauren is also on the move, set to move into the former home of Disney in the Coca Cola-owned 711 Fifth Avenue. Designer Valentino is also setting up a new home in Takashimaya’s former 20,000 square foot space at Thor Equities’ 693 Fifth Avenue, between 54th and 55th streets. Meanwhile, H&M will soon move two blocks south from Vornado’s 640 Fifth Avenue to 589 Fifth Avenue. [NYP, 2nd item] — Julie Strickland