Coach Closes Flagship NYC Store

595 Madison Ave., Coach Store. Image via Google Street View

Coach, the highly coveted luxury accessories retailer, closed the doors of its 6,000-square-foot space at 595 Madison Ave. in Manhattan suddenly last week, the New York Post reported. While the news may have stunned passersby, it came as no surprise to Vornado, owner of the approximately 330,000-square-foot office and retail building.

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“The closure was long planned given the opening of Coach House in such close proximity on 54th and Fifth Ave. at 685 Fifth,” a spokesperson for Tapestry Inc., parent company of Coach, told Commercial Property Executive. Coach, which opened its 20,000-square-foot Coach House location at Thor Equities’ property on Fifth Ave. in 2016, had been a long-term tenant of 595 Madison, a property Vornado acquired for $125 million in 1999. The same year, as the New York Times reported, Coach expanded its footprint in the 40-story building, more than doubling its 2,500 square feet to create the three-story shop that has adorned the corner of Madison Ave. and 57th St. ever since. The closing of the store marks the end of an era of sorts, as well as the beginning of a new one.

Another five-letter word

595 Madison Ave. Image via Google Street View

With Vornado having been well aware of Coach’s impending departure from 595 Madison, the REIT was able to land a tenant for the vacated space, an industry source told CPE. Italian luxury fashion retailer Fendi, a part of the LVMH Group, will create its own three-level flagship store in the tower also known as the Fuller Building, taking the Coach space along with additional square footage.

Fendi won’t be the only new name Vornado will introduce at 595 Madison’s 30,000-square-foot retail segment. Paris-based menswear store Berluti, also an LVMH brand, has signed a long-term lease for a flagship store at the property, according to the industry source.  

Luxury migration

While the stretch of Madison Ave. from E. 57th St. to E. 72nd St. continues to be a well-traveled luxury retail corridor, many high-end brands are pursuing a presence beyond the traditional locales in Manhattan. “Attributing to the trend is the changing demographic of today’s up-and-coming consumers, with luxury retailer seeking smaller locations in neighborhoods more appealing to Millennials,” according to a third quarter 2019 report by ABS Partners Real Estate. The Shops & Restaurants at the new $16 billion Hudson Yards has welcomed a bevy of upscale names including Chanel, Cartier and Coach, which maintains its headquarters and a retail space at the 28-acre mixed-use, master-planned destination on the far west side of Manhattan.