Piece of Scandinavia Lands in the Village

Upstart Retailer Steen Knigge is bringing a taste of his Scandinavian homeland to Manhattan with his first retail store. Hus, which opens this week at 11 Christopher St., at Gay Street, will carry upscale clothing and home furnishings from Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Hus, which means “house” in three Scandinavian languages, will offer designer brands such as Filippa K, Scene Boots and TjallaMalla.

“You have to be careful selecting the brands, or you can end up as a souvenir shop,” Mr. Knigge says. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”

Mr. Knigge, a Dane who speaks five languages and spent years working in the marketing and advertising world, searched Manhattan for about 10 months and decided on the 1,800-square-foot West Village site after looking in SoHo and NoLIta. Mr. Knigge wants to target affluent New Yorkers who might appreciate the clean designs from his native region.

“With the changes taking place in the Village, we’re starting to encounter the stroller traffic there,” says Porter Fulmer, a broker at Sinvin Realty Corp. who negotiated the deal on behalf of Hus New York. “The residents are becoming more refined and spending more money.”
PBS Realty Advisors represented landlord Alfa Development in the 10-year lease. The asking rent was $125 per square foot.