As international retailers continue to flock to London, competition for prime locations amongst top designers has begun to reach fever pitch. Now, luxury designer brand Michael Kors is to open a 15,000 sq ft flagship store on Regent Street, which it believes will allow for a greater flexibility when displaying its collection of shoes, handbags, eyewear and jewellery.
This will be the largest store the US brand operates in Europe and will almost triple the size of the retailer’s presence on the iconic street – at present it operates a 5,800 sq ft outlet in close proximity to the new site.
As well as becoming Michael Kors’ largest European store, the new property will also be the first on this continent to stock the designer’s full menswear range, which will be allocated its own floor in the three storey building. The only other Michael Kors store to showcase the full menswear collection is the flagship New York store which is located in the SoHo district of the city.
Chief executive of Michael Kors, John D. Idol, believes that the growing popularity of London with retail tourists will prove useful for the brand when the new flagship store is opened in autumn 2015.
He says; “Regent Street is the ideal location to open our largest Michael Kors store in Europe.
“It’s a vibrant and exciting street, and a global shopping destination.
“Regent Street is the perfect place to open a flagship store and present our men’s retail concept to Europe.”
The new Michael Kors flagship is only one of the exciting new schemes going ahead on Regent Street, as The Crown Estate is currently in the process of improving the area’s prospects as an international destination. In order to do this, the group has made the decision to invest £1 billion into its Regent Street portfolio – part of which has already been used to implement beacon technology that retail tenants can use to broadcast offers and incentives to passing consumers.
Around 100 stores have already been fitted with the beacons, and US agency autoGraph is in the process of creating a mobile app which will allow consumers to “personalise” the advertisements they see as they walk past. Presumably, the new Michael Kors flagship will also sign up to the scheme and will further progress the modernisation plan for Regent Street.
Head of the Regent Street portfolio at The Crown Estate, David Shaw, welcomed the designer’s decision to base its largest European flagship in London.
He said; “Michael Kors is a name synonymous with luxury, style and high quality craftsmanship – attributes that perfectly complement Regent Street’s position as a world class shopping destination for global brands and flagship stores.”
