Tiffany & Co., the gilded retailer whose gifts and jewelry epitomize prestige, is coming to Cincinnati in November with a signature store at the Fountain Place downtown development.
The exterior of the 7,400-square-foot store will open onto the corner of Fifth and Vine streets and feature the same granite facade and showcase windows that characterize Tiffany on Fifth Avenue in its hometown of New York City.
Joining Tiffany at Fountain Place, which will be anchored by Lazarus, will be Brooks Brothers. The 7,558-square-foot men's clothing store will have an entrance on Vine Street. All three retailers are set to open in the fall, and the Brooks Brothers store on Fourth Street will stay open for now, officials said.
Cincinnati Development Group Inc., the four-firm consortium building Fountain Place, disclosed the new tenants Thursday and quickly proclaimed downtown's retail scene has awakened from a long sleep.
''The real factor in Tiffany's decision was the cumulative ef
fect of people here who convinced them that Cincinnati really is a city on the move,'' said Jim Bennett, partner in Madison Marquette Realty, the retail arm of the development company.
The new stores, along with Lazarus, nearby Saks Fifth Avenue, Tower Place and possibly a Maison Blanche department store at Fifth and Race streets, will create a ''critical mass'' that can launch Cincinnati's comeback, said Steve Stein, president of Belvedere Corp., one of the development companies.
The Fountain Place development was on the drawing boards for 13 years before it came together last year.
|
Stretching from Race to Vine and part way to Sixth Street, Fountain Place is the city's effort to create a thriving retail core. If it works, the activity would spill over several blocks and help Fourth Street, once the city's premier fashion district.
The hope is that new and unique stores will attract more downtown workers and suburban shoppers on the weekends.
Tiffany's decision to locate downtown rather than in the suburbs makes sense, said Robert Dwyer, the Joseph F. Stern professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati and director of the Direct Marketing Policy Center.
''The target markets for that store are a half-dozen neighborhoods scattered out in the suburbs. They can't build in all those areas, so downtown probably is the best space and stands the best chance of getting some folks downtown,'' he said.
But it remains to be seen how well Cincinnati shoppers will take to Tiffany, where cuff links designed by Jean Schlumberger sell for $2,250 a pair.
Some downtown retailers are skeptical. ''Cincinnati has a high per capita income, but we don't spend it. At least not here,'' said Philip Bortz of Philip Bortz Jewelers on Fourth Street.
Many small retailers have long said a retail revival on Fifth Street does not guarantee downtown's complete comeback. And office building owners have argued that until more employers are recruited to downtown, retailers won't have the level of shopper traffic they need to thrive.
Tiffany executives were not present at the news conference. Mr. Bennett said the company studied the Cincinnati market's taste for upscale items, especially corporate-related gifts, and found it stronger than markets in Cleveland, Columbus or Indianapolis.
''This really is a grand opportunity we just don't want to pass on,'' said Wallace Steiner, the regional vice president of Tiffany responsible for the Cincinnati store, in a telephone interview.
Richard N. Baum, an analyst with Goldman, Sachs & Co., said all of Tiffany's other 23 U.S. stores, outside of one in tony Palm Beach, Fla., are in markets larger than Cincinnati. Cincinnati ranks 22nd in a government list of the top 50 U.S. markets based on population.
Meanwhile, the company is also trying to widen its customer base. Tiffany for the first time advertised on television last Christmas season.
Joan Herschede, who closed her own prestigious jewelry store on Fourth Street last year, expects Tiffany to do well here. She sold Tiffany items, including china, crystal and sterling silver.
Value-minded customers will know they can buy the same diamond at another jeweler for a lower price, Mrs. Herschede said. But she also said Tiffany's variety of designer items by Paloma Picasso and Elsa Peretti will appeal to customers seeking the unique.
''Young brides these days are more discerning, for example, and willing to pay $125 a plate for fine china,'' she said.
Lisa Biank Fasig contributed to this report.
HOW DID DOWNTOWN LAND RETAIL GEM?
