NEW YORK CITY-Making clear the strength of retail on the 34th St. corridor, H&M has revealed plans to create its third store in the area and—at 63,000 square feet—its largest property worldwide. Opening in fall 2014, the store will anchor Herald Center, the 10-story black glass tower that is going through an extensive renovation.
H&M was represented in the transaction by Robert Gibson, vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield. CBRE's Susan Kurland, EVP of retail brokerage services, represented owner JEMB Realty on the 25-year lease. Serving as the exclusive leasing agent for the building, Kurland tells GlobeSt.com that the southwest corner location secured by H&M is ideal.
"H&M got a fantastic corner,” she says. “The building is adjacent to a subway station [for the N/R branch as well as the B/D/F line] that has one of the highest ridership rates in the city. Also, one of the other corners of 34th St. and Broadway houses one of Victoria's Secret's most profitable stores, while Macy's Herald Square just completed a major renovation. The street just keeps getting stronger.”
Agrees retail guru Faith Hope Consolo, broker with Douglas Elliman's retail group, “The 34th street corridor is one of the most dynamic markets in the country. It's a big transportation hub plus there's Madison Square Garden, Macy's, the Empire State Building and the Farley Post Office—which is being renovated and repositioned. Also, there's pedestrian traffic 'stampede style,' with tourists from around the globe as well as shoppers from area office buildings and from the boroughs. And the block is dramtically different between each of the avenues, so a major retailer can have at least two maybe three stores there. H&M is so smart to capture those feet on the street.”
H&M officials say the location has a great deal of promise, even with its many other stores throughout the city. “The new flagship at Herald Square will for sure stand out among the already impressive group of stores that covers the New York City landscape,” says a company spokesman. “Our strategy when choosing a location is to open where there is a customer base and the best business conditions. One of our priorities is to look for locations where we can open a full concept store. A location like 1293 Broadway gives us the opportunity to do just that.”
The company also sees an advantage to operating multiple stores in close proximity to one another. “It is not unusual for us to operate multiple stores in close proximity to each other. Often we have found that this can increase the foot traffic to all stores. We have done this in San Francisco, Philadelphia,” he says, and here, “along Fifth avenue on 42nd street, 51st street and our upcoming store at 48th street, opening next spring.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
