A new Hermès store is opening in Williamsburg

Williamsburg has officially gone upscale, with WWD reporting that Hermès will open a long-term pop-up in the neighborhood in the first quarter of 2023 followed by a permanent flagship in the same area in 2026.

The initial pop-up will take over 91 North 6th Street, where less luxurious brands like Urban Outfitters and Madewell already have shops. The two-story store measures about 5,400 square feet.

The eventual 8,500-square-foot flagship, on the other hand, will be a few doors down, at 111 North 6th Street, which is currently a Birkenstocks store.

We are, of course, just as confused as you are about all of this information and have a single question in mind: has Williamsburg reached peek gentrification?

This actually isn't the brand's first foray into Brooklyn territory. Last fall, Williamsburg residents got to visit fitness pop-up HermèsFit, where customers got to choose from a variety of classes like "Voguing with Hats" and "Mirror Mirror With Small Leather Goods."

The new projects, more permanent endeavors, clearly indicate an overall shift in the makeup of Brooklyn in general and Williamsburg in specific—a fact that seems to directly correlate to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A shopping boom in Brooklyn’s trendy Williamsburg neighborhood is the latest sign that remote work is helping revitalize retail real estate in New York City’s residential areas," reported The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, citing an increase in daytime foot traffic given people's ability to quasi-permanently work from home.  

"It became apparent fairly early on in the pandemic, as remote workers shifted their shopping to local stores, that businesses in New York’s residential neighborhoods were faring better than the city’s office and tourist-dependent districts," reports the paper. "But the recent increase in demand for Williamsburg retail space shows companies are betting that working from home—and these new shopping habits—are permanent, brokers and landlords said."

Clearly, Hermès knows what it is doing.