South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster is set to occupy one of New York’s most recognizable retail locations, taking over the former REI flagship store in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan. The tenant will lease 28,500 square feet across three levels in the Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
The building is owned by Kushner Companies. Real estate brokers from Cornelia Street Partners, Lenny Kohlmayer and Evan Kleinberg, represented Gentle Monster, while RIPCO’s Richard Skulnik and Lindsay Zegans acted on behalf of the landlord. Details of the lease, including rent and term, were not disclosed.
The brand operates under South Korean conglomerate IICOMBINED. It offers glasses and sunglasses with prices starting around $225. The brand recently collaborated with Prada on an eyewear collection. In September, it unveiled a revamped flagship on Wooster Street featuring a kinetic art installation, per Hypebeast.
The Lafayette Street location hosted REI’s New York flagship from 2011 until its July 2026 closure without explanation. Store workers voted to unionize in 2022, though no contract was finalized. REI denied allegations that the store closed due to the unionization effort.
The Puck Building, a nine-story red-brick structure at Lafayette and East Houston streets, also houses offices for several prominent companies. These include OpenAI, Thrive Capital, and Quadrature Capital. Originally built in 1895 as the satirical magazine Puck’s headquarters, the property has hosted diverse tenants over nearly a century.
New York’s luxury retail corridors are experiencing historically low vacancy rates, with Soho’s Broadway vacancy at 9 percent in Q2 2026, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Average asking rents in the corridor reached $393 per square foot.
