Topshop: SoHo's British invasion

Chic clothing store comes to Broadway
By Matthew Lysiak

Special to amNewYork

November 7, 2007

The British are coming! The British are coming!

Topshop and its cheap, chic clothing are rumored to be invading stateside with an American flagship debuting in the heart of SoHo as early as this spring.

The location at 478 Broadway, which could be up to 90,000 square feet of retail space, would replace landmark skateboard store Yellow Rat Bastard, and further fortify the neighborhood's already strong retail blend. The move makes sense, according to one retail expert.

"SoHo is the epicenter of the New York City shopping scene, and when you think of how much space they'd need and the type of walk-through traffic they'd want, it really only makes sense for them to open on Broadway in SoHo," said Leslie Price, editor of the retail blog Racked.com that broke the story.

"Topshop is more expensive than H&M and Forever 21, and they operate similarly with trend-driven clothing and rapidly rotating stock."

Philip Green, whose company, the Arcadia Group, owns Topshop along with several other British retailers, was in New York in late April to scout a site for the flagship and may have been seduced by the neighborhood's diverse retail landscape that already includes Bloomingdales, Uniqlo and Prada and cheap-chic chains like H&M and Forever 21.

Broadway below Broome Street will also be getting a boost from the upcoming opening of Muji, a Japanese enviro-minimalist household goods retailer at 455 Broadway on Nov. 16th, and Crate & Barrel's CB2 which opened yesterday at 451 Broadway.

The invasion may not be the Beatles, but by simultaneously appealing to funky 16-year-olds, sophisticated twenty- and thirty- something's and Gwyneth Paltrow (as stated on the retailer's Web site), the move has already generated significant retail buzz across the blogosphere. This week retail sites from Realdeal.net to Fashionspot.com were glowing at the news and readers were salivating at the chance to loosen their purse strings.

But solid information has been hard to come by -- a spokeswoman for Yellow Rat Bastard wouldn't comment on any impending closure, Topshop's press office didn't return repeated requests for a comment, and building owner Vornado Realty Trust also had no comment. But the tight lips haven't transpired to the consumer end, where some shoppers have already popped the cork.

"I heard the news and I can't wait for Topshop to open in SoHo," said local shopper Sarah Millard. "I think this whole area is quickly becoming the best place to shop in the city."