DXL Plans Basement Flagship in N.Y.

Destination XL Group Inc. (Canton, Mass.) will open a new flagship store this summer in New York’s Flatiron district.

The 12,000-square-foot store will be on Sixth Avenue between 22nd and 23rd streets, on the lower level of a downsized Staples store. In that respect, the store is said to mimic DXL’s Chicago flagship, on the second floor of a building on Michigan Avenue.

President and ceo David Levin told Women’s Wear Daily that the nation’s largest retailer of big and tall apparel has been searching for a spot in Manhattan for more than a year.

“It’s difficult with our business to afford the kinds of rents [they’re asking in Manhattan], so we’re always looking for creative solutions,” he said. “From our customer’s point of view, there will be a street-level entrance. They’ll walk in the door and go downstairs. Our customer doesn’t care if he has to take an escalator.”

DXL, formerly known as Casual Male Retail Group, has been slowly doing away with its Casual Male XL and Rochester Big and Tall stores to focus on a single DXL superstore concept. Prior to the opening of this New York store, it will close the Casual Male store on 23rd street and Third Avenue in Manhattan.