Viva Burberry!

Burberry (London) announced it will open its first store in Italy, in Milan, by late next year. The 8100-square-foot store will be on Via Verri, in the city's golden shopping triangle. The announcement follows the opening last month of the retailer's first Spanish store — a flagship in Barcelona.

“Italy is such an important market for Burberry, and Milan is its fashion capital,” chief executive Rose Marie Bravo told Women's Wear Daily.

Europe accounts for 60 percent of Burberry's sales, followed by North America and Asia. By the end of 2002, the retailer plans to open four additional new stores, including a new New York flagship on 57th Street and a second London flagship in Knightsbridge.