Fashionistos and girlfriends with fine taste unite! Hermès has chosen our fair island as the location for its first-ever men's-only store. Set to open fall 2009 at 690 Madison Avenue (at 62nd Street), it will house four levels and 6,000 square feet offering a full range of clothing, accessories, and made-to-measure and custom pieces. The new store will be just across the street from the 10,600-square-foot flagship at 691 Madison Avenue, so couples can still kill two Hermès birds with one shopping stone. The current flagship sells both men's and women's merchandise; when the men's merch moves into its new home across the street, women's goodies will take over the leftover space. Why, it's like fashion symbiosis!

We know what you're thinking: Do men in this city really buy that much fine suiting? Robert Chavez, president and chief executive officer of Hermès USA, told WWD, "We need more space. The holiday season in there is pretty frenzied and during this last one, you could feel that we were maxing out." Okay, so maybe their girlfriends are buying the stuff, but a sale's a sale. On to your next question: Why are they opening in New York in during These Economic Times? "We really strategize for the long term," Chavez says. Well, that's promising! Keep the faith: Eventually this rut will end and rich people will buy even more fine suiting.

Hermès Adds Men's-Only on Madison [WWD]