Boston Gaining Luxury Retailing

Luxury retail is thriving in Boston, according to a report in The Boston Globe.

The Globe article said, “More than two dozen high-fashion brands have opened stores in the Back Bay in the past few years, while several longtime anchors have turned small showrooms into multifloor meccas of shimmering goods.”

Bottega Veneta plans to open its first Boston store, at the Heritage on the Garden building on Boylston Street, where Hermès is tripling the size of its store. Parisian designer Anne Fontaine intends to expand there as well.

Chanel just moved into a new store on Newbury Street four times the size of its old one. And the Neiman Marcus department store at Copley Place will add 40,000 square feet with a massive renovation planned.

The Globe said the retail vacancy rate on Newbury Street, Boston’s main fashion avenue, is just 2 percent, with new outlets from Steven Alan and Marimekko.