Smoke pours out of Tiffany & Co. flagship 5th Ave. New York store two months after reopening
A smoke damaged Tiffany & Co. store on Fifth Avenue in New York on Thursday
By Samantha Delouya, CNN
New York (CNN) — A fire near Tiffany & Co.’s newly renovated flagship store in New York City sent smoke pouring out of the building on Thursday.
Firefighters responded to a transformer fire that began in an electrical vault next to the jewelry store’s 5th Avenue location in Manhattan. The New York Fire Department later declared the fire under control and was contained to the vault.
Approximately 100 people were evacuated from the building and two were taken to the hospital for minor injuries, the FDNY said.
Videos on social media showed dark plumes of smoke coming out of the historic building and spilling into the street. Surrounding buildings, including Tiffany & Co.’s neighbor, Trump Tower, have been inspected for damage, authorities said.
The fire comes just over two months after Tiffany officially reopened the doors of its 10-floor limestone flagship shop. The store had been closed since 2019 for a costly renovation. The price tag for the store’s revamp was approximately $500 million, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The high-end jeweler was purchased by Bernard Arnault’s LVMH (LVMHF) in 2021 for $15.8 billion. In April, Arnault, who is LVMH (LVMHF)’s CEO, told the Journal that he decided to alter Tiffany’s initial flagship renovation plans after getting lost in the building while visiting.
Arnault said the store’s update was “more in line with the beauty and the myth which is Tiffany.”
Tiffany’s updated 5th Avenue location contains pricey jewels, and it also displays paintings by renowned artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Julian Schnabel. The 5th Avenue flagship accounted for 10% of the brand’s global sales before it closed for renovations.
Tiffany & Co. did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, nor did it confirm whether any inventory was damaged due to the fire. A spokesperson for the FDNY said the department shut down the store’s HVAC system when they arrived to ensure more smoke was not pulled into the building.
Update: This story and headline have been updated to clarify where the fire and smoke occurred.
– CNN’s Zenebou Sylla contributed to this report
The-CNN-Wire
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