New Yorkers greeted the arrival of U.K. retailer Topshop with much fanfare this week, lining up for hours Thursday morning for the grand opening of the chain's first U.S. store in SoHo. The company helped ensure the turnout with media previews of the store, a series of private parties, and a street team that roved lower Manhattan in a branded truck for over a week.
Members of carefully curated guest lists also joined the celebrations at a series of parties earlier in the week. Topshop proprietor Sir Philip Green hosted a private dinner Tuesday night at Balthazar where guests including Emily Mortimer, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Jay-Z saw Marc Ronson perform alongside the Dap Kings, Jimmy Fallon take the mic for a series of jokes, and Phantom Planet singer Alex Greenwald bounce between booths during a short set. Celebrities such as Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez got an exclusive look at the store on the eve of its opening at a small, private shopping event on Wednesday, and Kate Moss, who designs a collection for the retailer, hosted an event last night at the Box to commemorate the store's first day in business. Between the multifaceted nature of the launch, the considerable celebrity factor, and the fashion industry's seemingly genuine excitement over the store, all of the festivities garnered significant press coverage this week. (WWD even Twittered from the party on Tuesday: "Who knew Jimmy Fallon could sing so well in an English accent?")
After word broke that Topshop had a street team handing out gift cards—with values as high as $500—and complimentary tote bags early last week, pedestrians in lower Manhattan started seeking out the brand ambassadors and their colorful truck. Dubbing the launch "Topshopocalypse," retail blogger Racked offered sightings of the Topshop truck and live blogged about the lines at Thursday's opening.
WWD offered the first look at the Broadway store on Tuesday, with a gallery of images from the four-level 40,000-square-foot space that first opened up to the press on Monday morning. Architects constructed the location to resemble London's Oxford Circus flagship, but WWD noted that even the colorful illustrations and brightly lit marquees in each department aren't the focus of the store: The space emphasizes the product and not the decor.
The long lines of yesterday have already disappeared, and the scene outside the store was similar to most shops on Broadway this morning. Topshop's owner, the privately held Arcadia Group, anticipates this launch as the first of many in America. According to The New York Times, the brand is apparently proceeding as if there weren't a recession at all.
