Swedish Fashion Brand Takes up Shop in Gold Coast

40 East Oak Street, a 20-story apartment building in the Gold Coast owned by local Berger Realty Group, picked up another luxury tenant for its ground-floor retail space.

Stockholm-based fashion retail company Toteme is opening up its first store in the Chicago area with its new 1,100-square-foot lease at 40 East Oak Street. They plan to begin building out their new space some time next week, according to Crain’s. Formal move-in and opening dates haven’t been communicated. The ground floor of the apartment building is also home to boutique sneaker and clothing retailer Golden Goose. Golden Goose has also recently redesigned their storefront.

Berger Realty Group director of operations Rachel Breidinger told the outlet in an email that they’ve recently upgraded the building’s stone facade, front doors and main canopy.

While this is Toteme’s first move into the Windy City, they’re no stranger to the United States. Toteme operates two locations in New York City, two in Los Angeles, one in Aspen and one in Miami, according to their website. The Swedish company is replacing Christofle, a luxury silverware boutique who moved to the ground-floor retail space of the Drake Hotel, according to the outlet.

Terms of the lease were not reported by the outlet.

Nearby, Magnificent Mile owners are gearing up to upgrade their properties ahead of an anticipated retail uptick. The luxury shopping district was battered during the pandemic as everyone stayed home, cratering the value of brick and mortar retail shops.

New year-over-year figures show that recovery in the Mag Mile is happening as availability rates are down a full 3 percent from last year’s figures. Availability rates when the pandemic’s effects were at their worst stood at 33.8 percent. Now, they’re down to 26.1 percent. In June, Mag Mile investor Savas Er told The Real Deal that highly sought after street-level space in the area is being quickly snapped up.

— Hunter Cooke