And the retail apocalypse rages on. According to The Wall Street Journal, Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, once the crown jewel of American retail, is beset with falling rents, fleeing tenants, and vacant storefronts.
“Global retailers once seemed to pay whatever it took to lease space on [Fifth Avenue],” the story said. “That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore” as “one of the world’s most-trafficked and premier shopping corridors is feeling the strain.”
As the story reported, average ground-floor rent asks on the prime stretch between 49th and 60th streets “were $2,779 a square foot in the first quarter, down by 11% from its peak during the first quarter of 2017.” But even with the rent decreases, over a quarter of Fifth Avenue’s storefronts are either vacant or soon-to-be vacant.
And it’s big names that are bailing, too: Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ralph Lauren have all closed their Fifth Avenue flagship locations, and more brands are expected to follow in the coming year.
“The smart landlords are renegotiating to keep their places lit,” one analyst said. “If they are stubborn and waiting for a messianic future, they’re hallucinating.”
As another analyst said, “Even must-have locations, must have rents that are rational.”
You can read more at about it The Wall Street Journal.
