English Clothier Superdry Takes Old Hawaiian Tropic Zone Space

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One of England’s fastest growing fashion brands will be moving its latest flagship location to the Times Square space formerly occupied by the Hawaiian Tropic Zone.

Superdry – a men’s and women’s clothing line that combines Japanese, and American and English aesthetics – has signed a lease for 14,000-square-feet at 729 7th Avenue, on the corner of 49th Street.

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Hawaiian Tropic Zone 201x300 English Clothier Superdry Takes Old Hawaiian Tropic Zone Space
729 7th Avenue

The new space includes 4,000 square feet on the ground floor, 7,050 square feet on the second floor and 3,000 square feet in the basement. The store will use the ground and second floors for retail, according to those close to the deal. The asking rent was over $2 million per year, sources said.

This is the company’s third outlet in New York City – it already has two locations, one on 199 Water Street and the other its NoHo flagship on 718 Broadway.

Each floor at 729 7th Avenue is roughly larger than the total square footage of each of their other NYC locations – compared to 6,000 square feet at 718 Broadway and over4,000 square feet on Water Street.

But Superdry had been eyeing Times Square to elevate its brand.

“Times Square was the target, as it is for everybody,” said William Crisp, President of William Crisp Realty who represented Superdry in the transaction.

Mark Stempel, President of CityVest Realty Corporation, represented the landlord in the deal.

“They felt it was a great match,” said Mr. Stemper of ownership. “It’s going to be a very good relationship,” he added.

An American executive for Superdry was enthused about their new location.

“This Times Square one is really going to be a fantastic addition for us. It’s larger than most of our stores and it’s in a very busy spot, obviously,” said Jake Turlinski, Vice President Operations/Finance/Real Estate for Superdry.

Superdry’s new storefront was once the site of The Hawaiian Tropic Zone, where beautiful bikini-clad waitresses entertained diners while also garnering unflattering press. Waitresses sued Hawaiian Tropic Zone and its parent company, the Riese Organization, for what they alleged was discriminatory and sexually lewd behavior. Ownership was sued for $600 million, and the press-plagued restaurant closed in December 2010.

The Superdry Times Square flagship store is slated to open in May 2012.

Launched by Julian Dunkerton and James Holder after a 2003 trip to Tokyo, Superdry now has over 150 storefronts across the world.

Daniel Edward Rosen, Staff Writer, is reachable at DRosen@Observer.com