The flagship store is the sixth for the company, which moved uptown five times since its founding in 1837. Immediately prior to the construction of the building at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, Tiffany & Co. had its flagship at 401 Fifth Avenue, twenty blocks south. Meanwhile, in the early 20th century, the section of Fifth Avenue south of 59th Street was becoming a commercial area. By the 1920s, the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street contained commercial buildings, including the Heckscher Building and a branch of the New York Trust Company, which were interspersed with 19th-century mansions, music shops, and art dealerships. The site of the current Tiffany's flagship had been occupied by Collis P. Huntington's mansion until 1926.
