Cult Retailer LuisaViaRoma Is Bringing Its Italian Flair to New York City
One of the fashion industry’s cult-favorite shopping destinations is broadening its horizons.
LuisaViaRoma, the Florentine luxury retailer that opened its doors to shoppers from around the world in 1930, has set its sights on New York City as the grounds for its first international store.
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The retail advisory firm Mona recently revealed that LuisaViaRoma has inked a long-term lease for a new space at 1 Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, as reported by WWD. The store spans 7,855 square feet with a yearly rent of $3.2 million. The retailer has confirmed plans to open the new store in 2023, but you’ll have to stay tuned to learn when exactly.
The new NYC shop would become LuisaViaRoma’s second global outpost, alongside its longstanding Florence location. Though the retailer primarily generates sales via its website, it did previously test out a brick-and-mortar concept in the Big Apple in 2018. That space was created in partnership with Spring Studios and Spring Place. The new store’s neighbors on Bond Street will include Showfields, Kith and the swanky members-only club, Zero Bond.
LuisaViaRoma is part of the private equity firm Style Capital’s portfolio. Based in Milan, the company is known for investing in lifestyle, fashion and luxury companies to support the development of small to medium-sized businesses in those industries. In September 2021, Style Capital invested a staggering $130 million euros into LuisaViaRoma, in turn acquiring a 40-percent stake in the luxury e-tailer. The funds are now being used to fuel its global expansion. Other international brands Style Capital currently invests in are MSGM and Zimmerman.
With that said, LuisaViaRoma saw a healthy turnover of roughly €230 million in 2020—the same year when Covid plagued society and created problems for virtually every business on the planet. Despite this, the Italian company, like others in the luxury sphere, managed to turn a sizeable profit, and that may be a key reason the firm invested in the business a year later. Globally, sales of high-end goods spiked during the pandemic. But now, new reports show they’re falling due to inflation.
Given LuisaViaRoma’s decades-long run, and its success in the digital sphere, this may not set off any alarms for either company. Today, the e-tailer is helmed by CEO Alessandra Rossi, a Yoox Group veteran. Andrea Panconesi, whose grandmother Luisa Jaquin started the company and lead its foray into e-commerce in 1999, serves as its chairman.
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