Knockoff giant Forever 21 is spreading over Manhattan like a scab over a bad recessionary retail wound. The chain is leasing the old Takashimaya space on 693 Fifth Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets from Thor Equities, which bought the building after the Japanese retailer was forced to close down. Forever 21 signed a six-month lease with Thor, allowing them to try the store on for size and see if it’s truly the right fit. However, experts believe it probably will be, since the area is a well-trafficked tourist shopping mecca, and the permanent Gap pop-up shop, which sells collaborative Gap collections like the one they did with Keds, is doing well just down the Avenue. And if Gap is doing well, that’s really saying something! This will be Forever 21’s fifth location in Manhattan. It’s unclear how many floors of the eight-story, 51,000-square-foot space they’ll occupy, but nothing can be more terrifying than the Times Square location, right?
Forever 21 to bow on glitzy Fifth Avenue [Crain’s]
Takashimaya Building Finally Has a Retail Taker: Forever 21 [Racked NY]
