Fire tears through $500m newly refurbished Tiffany building on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue
Smoke is billowing out of 727 Fifth Avenue – the Tiffany & Co. Landmark buildingThe store reopened in April after a refurb that cost a reported $500million
A fire torched through parts of the newly-refurbished Tiffany & Co. building on Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue on Thursday morning.
Photos from the scene show crews of FDNY firefighters tackling the blaze which began as an underground street fire, according to a spokesman for the fire department who said the cause was an electrical vault.
No one was seriously injured, but some employees were seen being taken to the hospital in ambulances.
The fire occurred at around 9.38am – just as staff were preparing to open the store at 727 Fifth Avenue.
Smoke was seen billowing out of a ground floor window from The Landmark store at 727 Fifth Avenue at around 10am on Thursday
HAPPENING NOW: Smoke from fire below Tiffany & Co in Manhattan is growing. Loud banging sound can be heard. More fire trucks are arriving. pic.twitter.com/NHrqu590zw
— Jayne Zirkle (@JayneZirkle) June 29, 2023
Fire fighters tackle the blaze at the store on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street
Store floor staff and chefs from the sixth floor Blue Box Cafe were among those on the street watching the smoke billowing through windows.
The building was recently reopened following a lengthy and expensive refurbishment. Stars like Katy Perry, Hailey Bieber and Blake Lively attended its grand reopening in April.
The store is on a highly-prized corner of Manhattan shopping real estate – it shares the block with Trump Tower.
LVMH, the European luxury brand power house, bought Tiffany in 2021 for $16billion.
The renovations were estimated by some experts to have cost $500million.
Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s chairman and owner, would not confirm the figure earlier this year when interviewed about the opening.
The store underwent a $500million renovation and reopened earlier this year to great fanfare
Hailey Bieber with Tiffany CEO Anthony Ledru at the store’s grand reopening in April
He described renovating the entire building – first opened in 1940 – to make each floor different.
‘We got lost in the building. Here is a guy getting lost in his own shop. I said, “We have some work to do on this.”‘
Part of the renovation was the addition of The Blue Box Café on the sixth floor.
The first floor is occupied with an expansive showroom and store. There are ten floors total – half of which are open to the public.
Tiffany is yet to comment on the fire.
