LONDON (AFP) - British fashion brand Topshop said on Wednesday it would open a flagship New York store on Fifth Avenue, its second largest branch worldwide.

The brand also announced plans to open four more stores in the United States: in San Diego, Washington DC, Houston and Atlanta.

The new Manhattan store will be located on Fifth Avenue, on the corner of 49th Street, adjacent to the Rockefeller Center.

Second only in size to Topshop's branch on London's Oxford Street, it will open this autumn.

British tycoon Philip Green, the chairman of Topshop's parent company the Arcadia Group, sold a 25-percent stake in the Topshop/Topman brand to Leonard Green and Partners, a United States (US) private equity firm, in a bid to fuel the brand's international expansion.

Mr Green said: "Following the investment of Leonard Green and Partners in December 2012, it was always our plan to significantly expand Topshop and Topman in the USA."

In 2013, Topshop had a total of 80 stores or sales areas in 13 countries including Australia, Brazil and Hong Kong.