Sixty days into its newly-formed partnership with SRS Real Estate Partners, international real estate advisor Savills is close to bringing several new U.K.-based retailers to the New York City market, Sean Gillies, head of U.K. retail for Savills, told The Real Deal today.
More and more British retailers who have saturated the local market, and seeing the success of pioneers like Topshop, are beginning to consider growing stateside, he explained.
For instance, U.K. retailer River Island, who had previously eschewed the U.S. market in favor of countries with more of a British ex-pat population such as Australia, is mulling a New York store, Gillies said. That move was made more likely, he said, by the fact that the retailer just made a deal with songstress Rihanna, who will now serve as the face of the brand. Rihanna’s popularity in the U.S. may allow them to cause waves here, he noted.
However, the company has not yet officially begun seeking out locations in the city.