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Retail Chains Abandon Manhattan: ‘It’s Unsustainable’
New York Times ^ | Aug. 11, 2020 | Matthew Haag and Patrick McGeehan

Posted on 08/11/2020 3:26:31 PM PDT by Mount Athos

In the heart of Manhattan, national chains including J.C. Penney, Kate Spade, Subway and Le Pain Quotidien have shuttered branches for good. Many other large brands, like Victoria’s Secret and the Gap, have kept their high-profile locations closed in Manhattan, while reopening in other states.

Michael Weinstein, the chief executive of Ark Restaurants, said he will never open another restaurant in New York.

Of Ark Restaurants’ five Manhattan restaurants, only two have reopened, while its properties in Florida — where the virus is far worse — have expanded outdoor seating with tents and tables into their parking lots, serving almost as many guests as they had indoors.

“There’s no reason to do business in New York,” Mr. Weinstein said. “I can do the same volume in Florida in the same square feet as I would have in New York, with my expenses being much less.”

In Manhattan’s major retail corridors, from SoHo to Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, once packed sidewalks are now nearly empty. A fraction of the usual army of office workers goes into work every day, and many wealthy residents have left the city for second homes.

Some popular chains, like Shake Shack and Chipotle, report that their stores in New York were performing worse than others elsewhere, investment analysts said. A few dozen Subway locations have closed in New York City in recent months.

A Gap Store near Rockefeller Center has stayed closed and has not paid its $264,000 monthly rent. Two T.G.I. Friday’s in prime locations, one near Rockefeller Center and another in Times Square, have remained closed while its restaurants elsewhere in the country have reopened.

Landlords have started filing lawsuits against commercial tenants for not paying rent, accusing some national brands of trying to take advantage of the crisis.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; US: Florida; US: New York
KEYWORDS: akadeblasio; andrewcuomo; antifa; arkrestaurants; billdeblasio; chipotle; economy; fifthavenue; florida; jcpenney; katespade; lepainquotidien; madisonavenue; manhattan; matthewhaag; michaelweinstein; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; ocasiocortez; occasionalcortex; patrickmcgeehan; realestate; retail; rockefellercenter; shakeshack; soho; subway; tgifridays; thegap; timessquare; victoriassecret
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To: setter
In the same or another article Victorias Secret was paying $937,000 per month rent.

Victoria's Secret is on the corner of Fifth Ave/51st--right across from St. Pat's. SO many tourists.
41 posted on 08/11/2020 3:47:05 PM PDT by Miss Didi ("After all...tomorrow is another day." Scarlett O'Hara, Gone with the Wind)
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To: Paladin2

Couple that outrageous rent with insurance premiums and rich taxes and, yeah, why spend so much for a “prestigious” location when the government is showing it does the bidding of any mob of the day and will shut it down for any excuse.


42 posted on 08/11/2020 3:47:56 PM PDT by caseinpoint (Don't get thickly involved in thin things.)
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To: Mount Athos

A realtor friend of mine emailed me a link to the insite/future of the real estate market from industry insiders.

The greatest migration in human history is going to happen in the next few years from large cities to small towns. Suburbs are going to be bypassed straight to rural America.

Rural America was devastated the last 30 years now it is going to be reborn.


43 posted on 08/11/2020 3:49:33 PM PDT by setter
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To: Trump Girl Kit Cat

They are now reassessing whether the prestigious addresses/locations are worth the cost -- in NYC, Chicago, Milwaukee, Seattle, San Francisco, and numerous other targets of BLM/Antifa.


44 posted on 08/11/2020 3:49:37 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
After the dust clears, the Trump businesses will still be there. A.K.A. DeBlasio, not so much.

45 posted on 08/11/2020 3:50:19 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Mount Athos

Seattle, Portland and Chicago soon to follow.


46 posted on 08/11/2020 3:50:31 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: Miss Didi

The store has to be doing three million a month in sales to even pay rent. Is that possible?


47 posted on 08/11/2020 3:50:39 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: Paladin2

Read the article...Victoria’s Secret is $964,000 per month. Or something near that.

I said this was going to happen. Plus you have the stoopid rioters destroying everything.

No business person would ever return to a situation out of control.


48 posted on 08/11/2020 3:50:57 PM PDT by EBH (Cancel the DNC Party)
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To: chuckb87

I think you have a point. The grand strategy is to make life and business in NY so untenable that it drives even the lowest of democrat scum out into the hinterlands to contaminate what’s left of America.


49 posted on 08/11/2020 3:51:28 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Bonemaker
Where does that bull shit come from?

The usual fake news generators, cnnnbcmsnbcwaponyt . . . And Cuomo said so. Oh, and Fauci said NY had the best response. I guess he considers body count to be a favorable statistic.

50 posted on 08/11/2020 3:52:26 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Miss Didi

My buddy’s wife was the regional manager of Victoria’s Secret.

I was like “you lucky bastard”


51 posted on 08/11/2020 3:52:45 PM PDT by mylife (Opinions: $1, Today's Special, Half Baked: 50c)
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To: Mount Athos

Look at it this way.

A million in rent Victorias Secret was paying was not rent but advertising. As said millions of people from around the world went into that store each year to see the latest merchandise up close. and then went home to their local store or bought it online.


52 posted on 08/11/2020 3:53:02 PM PDT by setter
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To: isthisnickcool
I was able to trade 2 1 OZ silver coins for a Manhattan Penthouse. It seemed like a good deal but it turns out the place is on fire and the taxes are 1 trillion a month.

But the views! The Shopping! The Shows. Oh, never mind.

53 posted on 08/11/2020 3:53:40 PM PDT by OSHA (What did I come in here for?)
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To: Mount Athos

I hope you are right. These big cities as they are now must be destroyed.


54 posted on 08/11/2020 3:53:56 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Fungi

“The store has to be doing three million a month in sales to even pay rent. Is that possible?”

See my post #52


55 posted on 08/11/2020 3:54:14 PM PDT by setter
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To: Mount Athos

Call me when 10 or more “protestors” die for each store burned.

I just might give a millish*t.


56 posted on 08/11/2020 3:55:20 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: Miss Didi

Before they closed The Four Seasons was paying rent of over $3 Million a year.


57 posted on 08/11/2020 3:55:43 PM PDT by Captain Peter Blood (https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3804407/posts?q=1&;page=61)
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To: Mount Athos
These retail chains were losing money in their New York City locations for decades. They felt they had to have a flagship store in a big name city to sell the brand to people in other locations.

Those who work in the retail business could tell you exactly how many other stores were carrying their flagship location in Manhattan. It didn't matter if it was 10, 20, or 50. They had to be a "big name" store and had another 300-600 stores stateside and others overseas to offset the losses against.

As sales and advertising move more on-line, pretending you have a great successful business that could "make it" in New York City, London, or Tokyo is becoming less of a selling point.

58 posted on 08/11/2020 3:56:20 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: Mount Athos

I used to work for a nation-side car rental company. We made money everywhere else, but lost money in New york, boston, chicago, Liz angeles. But you’re not a nationwide chain if you are not everywhere in the nation.

The job in the big cities was to minimize losses. Probably still the same way today.


59 posted on 08/11/2020 3:57:03 PM PDT by Bernard (If I knew then what I know now, I probably would not have believed it anyway.)
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To: Paladin2

$264,000 monthly rent for a Gap Store?

I don’t care if your business model is selling cheape Chinese torn jeans to stupid kids for $125.00....

You cannot sustain that.


60 posted on 08/11/2020 3:58:48 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (Click my screen name for an analysis on how HIllary wins next November.)
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