In which city did Kate Spade open her first store?

Kate Spade opened her first store in New York City. The brand’s first boutique opened in 1996 in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, after the company had already begun selling its handbags through retailers.

The shop was a small 400-square-foot space, reflecting the brand’s early, focused approach. SoHo was becoming an important destination for fashion and design, making it a fitting location for a label built around modern, colorful accessories and a distinctly New York sensibility.

A common mix-up is treating the brand’s 1993 launch as the opening of its first store. The company was founded and its first handbags were introduced in 1993, but the first dedicated boutique came later, in 1996. The store was in New York City—not Paris, San Francisco, or Los Angeles—and helped establish the label’s retail identity.