Burst of retail activity indicates recovery.During the past few months, major retailers have entered New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , stores have expanded, and activity is evident in almost every prime retail sector of the market. Several forces have combined to catapult the retail market out of the doldrums. First, rents have fallen to levels that retailers perceive as being realistic. As numerous tenants sign leases, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City's tremendous backlog of vacant store space starting to be absorbed. In addition, the decline in shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into construction has contributed to a trend that heralds a new era in New York's retail market. For the first time, former shopping center-driven tenants are leasing major blocks of space in New York City and other urban centers. The "new kids on the block New Kids on the Block (later NKOTB) was a boy band that enjoyed enormous success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr, the members consisted of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny " include K-Mart, Staples, Bed, Bath and Beyond, The Sports Authority Sports Authority is the USA's largest full line sporting goods retailer. The company is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado. It operates over 400 stores in 45 U.S. states under the Sports Authority name. Total sales for the fiscal year ending January 29 2005 were $2.44 billion. and Filene's Basement Filene's Basement, also called The Basement, is a Massachusetts-based chain of department stores owned by Retail Ventures, Inc. The oldest off-price retailer in the United States, The Basement . The combination of available space, affordable rents and the willingness of landlords to give retailers lease terms that are far longer than tradition dictates has created a flurry of retail activity all over Manhattan. The list of retailers entering or expanding in the New York City market is too long to list. Among the most notable are Barnes & Noble, which has already opened several of its new superstores; Western Publications, which is bringing a new toy store A toy store, or toy shop, is a retail business specializing in the services of selling toys. No longer held to the limitations of the brick and mortar outlet, the toy store has successfully created a presence within the e-commerce industry. to Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center, complex of buildings in central Manhattan, New York City, between 48th and 51st streets and Fifth Ave. and the Ave. of the Americas (Sixth Ave.). The project was sponsored by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. ; The Sports Authority, which leased space in the Ramada ra·ma·da n. Southwestern U.S. 1. a. An open or semienclosed shelter roofed with brush or branches, designed especially to provide shade. b. An open porch or breezeway. 2. space at Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street; Herman's which is opening a major new store on 57th Street and Sixth Avenue; Cosmetics Plus; Labels for Less; Record Explosion; Today's Man; Bruno Magli Bruno Magli is an Italian shoemaker, designing and handcrafting high quality luxury shoes and accessories. History After learning the art from their grandfather, Bruno, Marino and Maria Magli started crafting women's shoes in a small basement in Bologna, Italy in 1936. ; and Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. Approximately 50% of greeting cards sent in the United States every year are manufactured by Hallmark. . In some areas, store space is already scarce. Numerous retailers have recently signed leases on Madison in the 50's, including Bostonian, Perugina Chocolate and Gap Kids, and few vacancies remain. The same is true of Fifth Avenue in the 50's, and there is currently very little available on the Sixth Avenue corridor. Though absorption is slower on Fifth Avenue in the 40's activity is strong on Lexington Avenue in both the 40's and 50's. While some vacancies remain, numerous leases have been signed with such retailers as Cosmetics Plus, Star Magic, Odd Job Lot and MacDonalds. On the Upper West Side, the Columbus Avenue market has finally stabilized. Major deals on Broadway during the past year include Filene's Basement, a Barnes and Nobles superstore and Talbots. Demand is rising and many retailers are looking at space in the area. Further downtown, 34th Street continues to be a strong retail street, maintaining rents in the major shopping area between Fifth and Seventh Avenues. Bed, Bath and Beyond's success has made the lower Sixth Avenue retail corridor extremely viable. The excitement generated by this major player has attracted Today's Man and a Barnes & Noble superstore, while other retailers are seriously considering this new retail market. At one point, stores on lower Fifth Avenue commanded rents of up to $100 per square foot. Although only a minimal amount of space is currently available, this area still remains soft and rents have declined somewhat. The downtown market remain's Manhattan's Achilles heel Achilles heel Noun a small but fatal weakness [Achilles in Greek mythology was killed by an arrow in his unprotected heel] Achilles heel n → talón m de Aquiles . While some deals have been made in the Wall Street area, this activity is often the result of relocations or consolidations. For example, Federal Express, which leased space at 40 Broad Street, consolidated two other area branches, and there are numerous vacancies in major shopping areas such as Nassau Street, Broadway and Fulton Street. The World Trade Center has recovered from the bombing, and its retail complex remains one of the few bright spots in the downtown market. Unfortunately, the area's high office vacancy rate and the fear factor among downtown workers, who are afraid of spending money as the financial sector continues to make cutbacks, have contributed to downtown's continued weakness. At this point, the majority of Manhattan's retail market is beginning to glow with health and vitality. The momentum generated by the current influx of tenants will continue to attract new and expanding retailers. Since the retail market is demand driven, this increased activity will eventually cause a shortage of space and send rental rates back up. For the moment, Manhattan remains a tenant's market. Though it is almost impossible to predict when that will change, considering the huge inventory of store space amassed during the real estate and economic downturn, retailers thinking about entering the New York City market should realize that the window of opportunity may be closing. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion