U.K.'s Timothy Oulton takes 10-year lease in historic N.Y. shopping district
It was the original location of Lord & Taylor in what was New York’s chief shopping district in the 19th Century and it soon will be the site of a top British furniture brand’s flagship store on the East Coast.
Luxury furniture brand Timothy Oulton has signed a 10-year lease at 901 Broadway and 20th Street, 11 blocks north of where John Wanamaker’s massive department store once anchored Manhattan’s Lower Broadway retail span. The retailer’s in-house design team has developed a $1 million-dollar concept for the new furniture showroom, which will be constructed by New York City-based McAlpine Contracting.
The deal is a flash of positive news for owners of retail real estate in New York, who’ve seen rents drop by as much as 25% during the pandemic.
“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,” said company founder and creative director Tim Oulton. “We recently opened new stores in downtown Los Angeles and Miami, but New York is extra special and complements openings in other prominent gateway cities elsewhere in the world.”
Due to the historical significance of the structure, the McAlpine team has prepared design and construction documents that must be approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Timothy Oulton currently operates 45 stores worldwide, including seven stores in the U.S,. that present the namesake designer’s “subversive” take on luxury. The brand has another New York location on Lexington Avenue and others in Connecticut, and San Francisco.