Canuck Sighting! Joe Fresh Opening in Esprit’s Flatiron Space
By Laura Kusisto May 13, 2011 5:01 pm
reprints
The much-watched Canadian retailer that recently landed on Fifth Avenue with a splash of red and white, is opening its second New York City location, multiple sources told The Observer.
Joe Fresh, a Gap-lite clothing line most commonly found in Canadian grocery stores, is moving into the former Esprit space at 110 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron district. The roughly 15,000-square-foot space in the Stamford White-designed building, best known for its spectucular architecture and huge arched windows, is something of a flagship spot for the area, said retail brokers not familiar with the deal.
“That space truly launched the Flatiron District,” said Newmark Knight Frank’s Jeffrey D. Roseman. The area’s first fashion retailer, Emporio Armani, leased space in the Stamford White-designed building in the ’90s, according to Mr. Roseman. A boomlet was to follow, with Paul Smith, J. Crew and Zara.
But the district took a particular hit during the recession. “Flatiron was struggling for a little while,” said Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo. “But it’s starting to come back.
PBS Real Estate’s Laura Pomerantz did not respond to requests for comments; nor did the broker for the space, Cassidy Turley‘s Adam Ardise.
lkusisto@observer.com
