Topshop has officially entered Midtown Manhattan’s retail heaven with a four-level American flagship on Fifth Avenue and 49th Street.

The flagship store is a showcase for the brand. Unlike other stores within the chain, the purpose of a flagship is to do more than generate a profit. Its particular job is to draw attention to the brand, broadcast its brand status and mark itself out against its competitors.

Topshop is a very influential brand on top of being exceptionally chic. Endorsed and represented by top models like Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss, the fan base and consumer base keep growing exponentially, according to Women’s Wear Daily. It’s the only high-end “street brand” to show a collection at London Fashion Week, making it even more of an outlier within the fashion industry. Bringing this influence across the pond — specifically to Fifth Avenue, one of America’s most famous streets — will enhance American fashion and make it available to a wider variety of shoppers.

At 40,000 square feet, the Fifth Avenue location is the second-largest Topshop store in the world. The largest is its London flagship in Oxford Circus. The retailer’s SoHo location in New York City has always been a large draw for tourists, but the new Fifth Avenue presence is sure to go above and beyond, attracting people with an even more disposable income. After all, Fifth Avenue is the big league of retail.

The retailer brings a European aesthetic to the U.S. clothing market with its New York City flagship and will attract a whole new demographic to the store. The brand manufactures clothes, shoes, handbags, cosmetics and outerwear. Topshop offers a variety of, well, everything for men and women of many backgrounds and style preferences.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, the Oxford Circus location generates $250 million in revenues annually, and the Fifth Avenue store — with 33,000 square feet of selling space, which is about one-third of the London flagship — should hit at least $80 million in sales because it is in one of the world’s most sought after retail districts.

Topshop came to New York City with big ambitions. In the years following the 2009 SoHo location opening, there has been a rise in the profile of fast fashion stores that sell on-trend clothing to a younger audience at affordable prices. Though the Topshop stock is replenished with super fast fashion speed, it occupies a middle ground between fast fashion and the kind of designer goods sold at Saks across the street. The store offers a range of merchandise with sweaters as low as $50 to party dresses for $500.

Taking a trip to Topshop while you’re in the city is something every shopper has to do. I remember the first time I dragged my mom in after reading about the brand in Teen Vogue, and we were mesmerized. It was laid out differently than any other fast fashion store we had been to, like H&M or Forever 21. You could tell there was a foreign influence, which made everything seem more appealing.

The conversation centered on Topshop is certainly growing as more Americans familiarize themselves with the brand, as well as the foreign aesthetic it has been bringing to the U.S. since 2009 in cities around the country, and not just New York.

It’s important for Topshop to expand its name and style on Fifth Avenue. It’s a premiere shopping site and the first thing on many fashion-conscious tourists’ lists of things to do in New York. It’s at the center of Manhattan and no other street in the city has as much fame and story-telling centered on it.

The flagship store will attract a whole new segment of shoppers, and on Fifth Avenue it may even attach a stigma of sophistication and chicness with the mention of the word “Topshop.”

Published on November 10, 2014 at 12:01 am