Adidas Jogs Over to Fifth Avenue

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ezra

Global shoe and sportswear giant Adidas will be opening its largest store to date in North America, on New York’s Fifth Avenue, it was announced last week by RKF, which arranged the lease for more than 34,000 square feet of space on three floors. Sited at Fifth Avenue and 46th Street, the new Adidas flagship store is scheduled to open in fall 2016.

The Adidas Group reportedly had stated that its top priority for 2015 was to expand the brand in the North American market. The company selected this site “to help elevate the brand as a premier global retailer on Fifth Avenue,” according to RKF, and likes its proximity to the North American flagship stores of H&M, Topshop, Sephora, Guess and Karen Millen, as well as the heavy foot traffic generated by Rockefeller Center and Saks Fifth Avenue.

RKF EVP Jeremy Ezra represented Adidas, while landlord Stawski Partners was represented in-house.

“Adidas had been searching for a space on Fifth Avenue for several years, and this space enables them to make a significant impact in the North American market,” Ezra said in a prepared statement. “The building is a clean modern glass structure and will provide the brand with a powerful storefront on one of the most active corners in Manhattan.”

“The landlord went the extra mile to accommodate Adidas’ interior and exterior design ideas and loading needs and was generally very helpful,” Ezra told Commercial Property Executive. Adidas’ current major retail location in Manhattan is a two-level store at 610 Broadway (at Houston) in NoHo, he added.

“Fifth Avenue…is still the retail destination of choice for international brands looking to make their mark in North America….The addition of Adidas is expected to dramatically transform this stretch of Fifth Avenue,” according to RKF.

RKF also represented Adidas in its recently announced 115 Spring St. location and its newly opened site at 452 Fulton St. in Brooklyn.