Gucci to open store in Meatpacking District

Luxury retailer Gucci is placing a bet on storefront retail in Manhattan.

The Commercial Observer is reporting that Gucci is opening a 10,000-square-foot, two-level store in the Meatpacking District.

The luxury brand has signed a lease to set up shop at 400 West 14th Street on the bottom two floors of the five-story building between Ninth Avenue and Washington Street, according to the report.

The move comes after Gucci opened a temporary pop-up store in the neighborhood last October as part of the high-end brand’s centennial anniversary. During the celebration, Gucci also opened pop-up stores in Beverly Hills, Miami, Chicago and San Francisco. The Soho store remained in the space until December.

The new storefront will bring the number of Gucci outlets in Manhattan to four, including the 49,000-square-foot flagship store at Trump Tower at 725 Fifth Avenue, where it signed a controversial 20-year renewal lease last year for what some reports say included lower rent and extra money to renovate the store.

At the time, many businesses were disassociating themselves from Trump, including Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Deutsche Bank, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York and Signature Bank.

Gucci also has stores on Vesey Street in the Financial District and in Soho on West Broadway off Broome Street.

The deal was brokered for the landlord Saab Associates by Retail by Mona. Mike O’Neill of Cushman & Wakefield managed it for Gucci.

Brick-and-mortar locations have hit hard times in recent years, hurt by the disruption that is internet shopping and, more recently, the pandemic.

According to a report by The City, a local news website, there were more than 250 ground-floor spaces available directly from landlords in Manhattan in October, up 25 percent from the previous year — and many other spaces were likely available from retailers looking to sublease.

[Commercial Observer] — Vince DiMiceli