Regent Street branded new Fifth Avenue
SUPERGROUP chief executive Julian Dunkerton has labelled Regent Street – where it is to have its flagship store – as “the UK’s answer to Fifth Avenue”, as some of the world’s most famous brands line up to set up shop there.
In a changing of the guard among retailers, SuperGroup has bought the lease on traditional outfitters Austin Reed’s five storey building, as younger brands target the area.
With the Apple store already packing in customers, Regent Street is becoming a haven for the fashionable retail elite.
A £1bn development of the street since 2002 by owners, the Crown Estate, is paying off. Its programme of attracting bigger brand names into expansive, more modern spaces is pulling in big retail players.
As names such as Apple, Burberry, Brooks Brothers and Ferrari come to dominate, the older independent shops selling anything from rugs to cashmere cardigans are moving out.
Dunkerton said: “Retailing for London’s youth market is changing shape with a concentration of the worlds’ leading youth brands congregating in Regent Street to create a new destination which will be the UK’s own Fifth Avenue in retail terms.”
Fifth Avenue, the famous street in Manhattan, is full of luxury retailers including Prada and Louis Vuitton.
SuperGroup is hoping that its new 59,000 square foot flagship store will generate significant sales especially as the lease is not cheap. Rent is estimated at £2.5m a year for the chain, whose profit is mainly fuelled by its Superdry label.
“The potential for our brand remains, both in the UK and internationally, where we see untapped capacity,” said Dunkerton, who sees the Regent Street store as a jewel in the company’s crown.
Jace Tyrrell, of the New West End company which represents traders in London’s shopping heartland, said of the Regent Street transformation: “Regent Street is now one of the top global destinations for any brand seeking a European flagship store of shopping streets.”