American Eagle Signs 14K sf Mag Mile Flagship Store

American Eagle Outfitters is taking 14,182 square feet on North Michigan Avenue for a three-brand flagship, adding to a recent string of retail leases on Chicago’s marquee shopping corridor after a multiyear demand slump.

The Pittsburgh-based retailer signed for space at 600 North Michigan Avenue, according to CoStar News, taking a long-vacant former AT&T store plus adjacent ground-floor space in a property owned by New York-based Clarion Partners.

The store is slated to open in summer 2027 and will combine American Eagle Outfitters, women’s brand Aerie and the athleisure concept Offline by Aerie under one roof. Each concept will have its own entrance, while remaining connected internally, the company said.

Brad Downs, American Eagle’s senior director of real estate, told the outlet that the location will rank as the company’s fourth-largest retail space, after three larger flagships in New York City.

Downs attributed the timing in part to the return of pedestrians that had thinned during the pandemic era, saying the firm noticed an uptick in daytime office and tourism activity in the area.

The lease comes amid a burst of activity along the roughly one-mile stretch of Michigan Avenue north of the Chicago River. Local retail brokerage Kirsh Agency projected that deal volume on the corridor will double this year.

Several major concepts have recently moved in or been announced, including a 60,000-square-foot Candy Hall of Fame Experience planned at 830 North Michigan Avenue. A large Harry Potter-themed store has opened, and Japanese apparel giant Uniqlo is returning to the avenue, also at 600 North Michigan Avenue. San Francisco-based Gap is in talks to move into that retail building after exiting the Magnificent Mile five years ago.

Clarion Partners has been steadily backfilling the multilevel retail building, including a lease signed last year with interactive games provider Urban Playground, according to the outlet. Those leases have helped chip away at what had been record-high availability along the street.

Not all the news has been positive for the corridor’s retail roster. Saks Global recently placed its Saks Fifth Avenue store at 700 North Michigan Avenue on a national closure list..

American Eagle already has a suburban presence in mall locations, but it has been absent from the city since closing a Water Tower Place store about two years ago. Downs told the publication that the retailer has continued to post strong online and in-person sales in the Chicago area, and expects the flagship to lift volumes further.

— Eric Weilbacher