First Look: Timothy Oulton’s New York City flagship store

Timothy Oulton, the British furniture, lighting, and décor brand known for remolding traditional designs into modern templates, has done the same with its new store in Manhattan’s Flatiron District.

The brand’s East Coast flagship store opening this week at 901 Broadway—the French Second Empire style building erected in 1870 for Lord & Taylor—is now elegantly furnished with a leather sofa emblazoned with the Union Jack, a white neon map of New York City, and a stainless steel copy of a NASA Apollo command module reimagined as a leather-lined cocktail lounge (price around $130,000).

“We opened one of our first galleries in New York City back in 2009 because I considered New York one of the great, if not the greatest, of the world’s cities. It’s a global epicenter of great design, so I’m excited to be reopening here,” said founder and creative director Tim Oulton, whose father operated an antique shop in Manchester, England.

Oulton’s in-house design team has developed the concept for the 7,170-sq.-ft. store. New York City-based McAlpine Contracting built the new retail gallery, which is what Oulton calls his stores. He operates 47 of them worldwide.

“This $1 million construction project revitalizes the iconic retail space, which was recently vacant, and attracts buyers to the vibrant Flatiron neighborhood at the time when the retail industry is beginning to recover,” said McAlpine VP John Nolan.

Located on the corner of Broadway and 20th Street, Timothy Oulton’s has full-height windows at the first floor that provide clear views into the interior space. An 1,890-sq.-ft. main showroom on the first floor is topped by a 344- sq.-ft. mezzanine. An open stair connects to a 1,221-sq.-ft. level that provides additional showroom space as well as a café bar.

Oulton began his retail career working in the family shop and--influenced by his father’s military background and his British heritage—created décor and furnishings that are made using traditional techniques and fabrications.

“We have a point of view,” Oulton said. “There is character and soul to what we do.”