Uniqlo Heads to Fifth Avenue

Fast Retailing Co. has agreed to pay $300 million to bring Uniqlo to Fifth Avenue.

Japan’s fast-fashion retailer announced the deal, with broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. and landlord Crown Acquisitions disclosing the price, according to Bloomberg.com “Uniqlo identified this location as being the one that they were willing to make the biggest bet on,” says Cushman & Wakefield broker C. Bradley Mendelson. “They’re one of the biggest retailers in the world; they’re just small in the U.S.”

The location, at 666 Fifth Ave. near 53rd Street, is near Tiffany & Co.’s flagship location and Apple Inc.’s “Cube.” Fast Retailing operates 791 outlets in Japan and expects to have 4000 Uniqlo stores worldwide by 2020. Its only U.S. location is in SoHo, which opened in 2005.

For the new Fifth Avenue space, the company will spend $20 million a year to lease the 89,000-square-foot space, according to Cushman’s Mendelson and Haim Chera, principal of Crown Acquisitions. The deal is highest aggregate amount paid to lease retail space in New York, according to Bloomberg.