New York’s Madison Avenue, historically the home of America’s greatest advertising agencies, is attracting a new crowd. In recent years, the area has become a design hub, with a string of furniture showrooms from brands that are taking advantage of larger spaces and more affordable rents. “In New York, it’s a new era,” says Roberto Gavazzi, the CEO and president of the Boffi-DePadova group. The Italian company is one of many that have relocated here from SoHo.

“It’s a much more comfortable solution for our customers to walk to Madison Avenue and find all of the design shops there,” he says. “Having these companies close together in one area also makes it very easy for an architect or developer.”

Last year, the Italian furniture leader unveiled its new three-storey shop on Madison Avenue. The brand has had a presence in New York for decades but after leaving SoHo because of excessive rents, it moved uptown, settling in a 1,800 sq m space that was formerly a bank. “We decided to be among our colleagues,” he says. Fortunately, Boffi found itself among like-minded neighbours, such as Italian furniture companies Natuzzi and Rimadesio. 

Considering the US is one of Boffi’s biggest markets, doubling down in the city made sense. Though bricks-and-mortar retail dwindled during the pandemic, people were still buying, acquiring pieces for the living spaces that they found themselves trapped in during lockdown. “The market went down for a while but people started to reinvest in their houses because of the obligation to stay home,” says Gavazzi. Now, retail is back and booming again. “It’s a fairly good investment,” he says. “New York has always been a successful showroom [for us] and it [has also] helped us to open in the rest of the country.” 

Not only is the new showroom more affordable than the previous space but it’s larger, so they can showcase both Boffi and DePadova products. It’s more beautiful too, with a historic façade and giant windows that allow light to flood into the loft-like space. “We don’t want to be perceived just as a typical showroom; this is also an architectural space,” says Gavazzi, who enlisted his creative department to redesign the four levels it occupies. The shop has more of an apartment-style feel, with furniture that has been arranged in a way that allows clients to imagine how it would look inside their homes. “It feels very New York.”