THE OPPOSITE OF GENTRIFICATION? Buberry Finally Ousts Les Pierres Antiques

For about a year and a half, we have been wondering and speculating who was going to take the Bleecker Street space currently occupied by Les Pierre Antiques. Ever since it was prominently advertised as available in WWD, it has been a foregone conclusion that the much loved store, a vestige of Bleecker's heritage as an antiques street, would be in for some sort of transition, but who would take its place.

Today, Crain's announces that Burberry has taken the enviable 1,800-square-foot shop at the corner of Charles Street for 10 years to open a third Manhattan outpost for its fast expanding Burberry Brit line. Crain's describes the ejection of Les Pierre as a result of ongoing gentrification, but really, isn't an exclusive boutique specializing in expensive French country antiques actually more upscale than yet another shop devoted to Burberry's contemporary priced sportswear line?

If anything, with all the chains and brands that have transformed it, what has happened to Bleecker street is a sort of anti-gentrification. The rents are certainly higher, but many of the stores (Sunglass Hut?) are far less interesting and exclusive that what they replaced, to say the least.

Brits Oust Antiques on Bleecker (Crain's via Racked)
Previously:
Upcoming Relocations: Leo Design Gets Booted Off Bleecker
Transitions: Treasures & Trifles Another Longtime Bleecker Street Store Exits