Madison Avenue Additions: Burberry Launches A Midtown Double Header

Today at 9 AM Burberry will double its retail presence in New York with not one but two shiny new stores on the ground floor of its newly christened American headquarters on Madison Avenue between 49^th and 50^th Streets.
You would think that two well placed boutiques in Manhattan would be enough for an international luxury brand like Burberry, but a pair of 1,500 square foot shops open and available in the building that houses its home base (coupled, no doubt, with favorably slumping retail rents in the neighborhood) proved too appealing of an opportunity to pass up. While neither shop is a flagship, each one will showcase a facet of the brand. One is devoted solely to the most popular and commercial Burberry London label, but it's the other that may attract more interest. It will feature Burberry Brit, a younger sportier label (once known in Europe as "Thomas Burberry") that has been mostly unavailable at retail in the U.S. until now, and possibly serve as a beachhead for a more expansive rollout of the collection.
We haven't been inside yet, but for the first few days, we are counting on there being lots of anxious Burberry executives on hand —mainly because their offices are right upstairs. At the very least, everyone should be on their best behavior.
Burberry Brit & Burberry London 444 Madison Avenue between 49^th and 50^th Streets, Midtown