In an exclusive interview with WWD, Topshop's owner, Sir Philip Green, said he is planning two more Manhattan stores, as well as flagships on the West Coast, and other units in cities including Las Vegas, Miami and Boston.
But Green wants to give as well as receive: In addition to building an American leg to his retail business, he hopes to find young American design talent to sustain and support in the vein of Topshop's New Generation program. In London each season, Topshop sponsors the shows and collections of a clutch of young designers. Those names — which have included Preen, Marios Schwab, Christopher Kane and Emma Cook — have then gone on to create exclusive collections for Topshop.
"This is so exciting — I've always wanted to trade in America. It is a big adventure for me," said Green. But even as that dream unfolds, he is conceiving another one beyond its shores. "We are now equipped — and ready — to move the brand on, worldwide," Green proclaimed.
Topshop's first Manhattan flagship, at 478 Broadway in SoHo, likely will be the nerve center of Green's burgeoning U.S. business. He has an option to take a 9,500-square-foot space on the building's top floor to use as his U.S. office and said further store openings in America are likely to come sooner rather than later.
"As soon as we get our feet under the table here, the other New York stores could come quite soon," Green said, adding he'll need "about three to six months" to get the retail model right on Broadway. If all goes well in New York, he said, the rollout to other American cities could happen in the short term.
The new Topshop stores in the U.S. will be a minimum of 20,000 square feet and they all will be flagships. "I don't want hundreds of little stores in the U.S. They all have to make economic sense," he said.
The Broadway flagship will cover 40,000 square feet over three floors — basement, ground floor and first floor — and Green said he's hoping to preserve the "spirit" of the brand's iconic Oxford Circus flagship. The store will open in September.
Green said he and his team are mulling the design for the Broadway store, but there likely will be a spiral staircase in addition to escalators, and customers in the basement will be able to view the two upper floors.
The retail mogul said he came within a hair's breadth of signing for a site at 600 Broadway, but the landlords could not guarantee on-time delivery, and there were complex planning issues. He's continuing to look at other sites around Manhattan, including ones on Fifth, Lexington and Madison Avenues.
"We're still learning about Manhattan locations, and right now, uptown is too expensive — I don't think we'd take enough money," he said. "I don't want to open trophy stores. They have to tick the right boxes on a commercial basis. And in the U.S., sales per square foot are historically lower than those in London."
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