Is H&M Taking Over United Colors of Benetton on Fifth Avenue?

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

The fate of United Colors of Benetton's Fifth Avenue store is a bit unclear right now. The New York Daily News reports that the Benetton family sold its building at 601 Fifth Avenue to a real estate company that's affiliated with Stefan Persson, the chairman of H&M. They first snatched up the property in 2002, and certainly paid a lot less than the $137 million that Persson's firm just plunked down.

Neither Benetton nor H&M would comment to the paper on exactly what the transaction means for the fate of United Colors' store. It's right between two of H&M's important Fifth Avenue stores: The 48th Street flagship that debuted last summer and the soon-to-be second Manhattan COS location on 42nd Street.

Of course, H&M could decide that they've got enough of a retail presence in this pocket of the city and make a pretty penny renting it out: Though 601 Fifth Avenue is just shy of where the world's most expensive retail rents are, the paper reports that this stretch of the shopping avenue between 42nd and 49th streets can rent for up to $1,200 per square foot.