US fashion brand J Crew is on the verge of securing its first UK store on London’s Regent Street.

J Crew is “in legals” with Regent Street owner Crown Estate to open a shop in the property formerly occupied by Burberry. The luxury fashion brand relocated to the former Habitat store last year to enable a redevelopment of the premises.

It is not known when the store will open, but it is thought that the site still needs a great deal of further development work done ahead of any opening.

The arrival of J Crew has been hotly anticipated. The brand hosted a breakfast with landlords in June to discuss potential store openings, as revealed by Retail-Week.com.

J Crew, a favourite of US First Lady Michelle Obama, has been eyeing London sites for some time as it seeks to expand out of North America, where all of its 238 stores are located.

The retailer plans to launch its first overseas presence this autumn in department stores Hong Kong and Beijing.

J Crew notched up revenues of $2bn last year and already ships to 103 countries through its online offer.

Property agent Harper Dennis Hobbs acts for J Crew. CBRE acts for the Crown Estate.

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