Well the predictions about post Christmas retail troubles are coming true with a slew of store downsizings and some more bankruptcies. No surprise here. We've been getting used to seeing the signs of our times--"For sale," "Condos with Great Views," and now that old favorite "Space for Lease."
The story here is that the downturn is hitting all stratas and noticeably upscale retailers too. On Manhattan's East Side, the TV satellite trucks sit on the corner outside Bernie Madhoff's apartment building waiting for a sighting. All along Second and Third Avenues those for lease signs have been increasing by the week in abandoned storefronts--restaurants, a Sushi place, a furniture store, a coffee shop, a pharmacy, a Circuit City, and on and on.
On Madison Avenue, one of the world's poshest shopping strips, the only action on a recent afternoon was at a shoe store near the Carlyle Hotel where a bunch of bystanders peered in through the window to watch the filming of a "Gossip Girl" episode. Otherwise, in shop after shop from Prada to Valentino, sentinel-perched salesmen stood expectantly waiting by doors for someone, anyone to venture in. Art galleries weren't doing any better. At least on Madison, the "for lease" signs are still few and far between. But you wonder whether the story line in the TV show isn't about that one last splurge before Dad breaks the news to Serena that she's going to public school next semester.
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