Vacant and empty stores on Madison Ave, UES

that's strange because this am I was uptown on third avenue in the 70's and saw the same thing, store after store vacant.

Can you mention a few who are out? I was on Mad a few wks ago & don't recall seeing 20 vacancies.

most blocks have one to two vacancies, 14 blocks times about 1.5 would be about twenty. There are fewer above 72nd, and a few of the spots seem to have some activity but no sign of anything specific coming. There was an article somewhere recently on how long-time purveyors of luxury items on Madison were closing or moving elsewhere.

Julia,
where in the 70s?

NE corner of 78th & 3rd is vacant, but that store was ill conceived from the beginning: cheapish clothing with jacked up pricing.
Also, east side of 3rd from 79th to 80th is out cuz of rent increases, but those stores had been there for a long time & were probly paying very low rent. Bad timing for landlord.

Julia, are you finding apts that meet your budget?

Aboutready, do you remember where the article was? Thanks.

dwell, the article was in the times, approx 2 or 3 weeks ago. gist of the reporting was that many of the high-end stores on madison never supported themselves from the sales activity, but were viewed as brand promotion. so, the companies provided additional dollars from their advertising/marketing budgets to make the rental math work. those same companies are now cutting that support, thus the stores don't make economic sense at current rents, so they move.

Thanks, bigbend. Yeah, I was always kinda baffled by that thinking. For ex: Missoni on 78th is almost always empty. I asked a Mad Ave retail broker "how can they pay the rent if no one's ever in there?" & broker replied that once in a blue moon, someone comes in & buys a load of stuff. Just never made sense to me.

Two articles of note:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/business/04madison.html?scp=3&sq=madison%20avenue&st=cse

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/fashion/18SHOPPING.html?scp=1&sq=madison%20avenue&st=cse

Thanks secondandc.

The busiest place on my walk uptown on Madison between 59th and 72nd Street was the fancy coffee shop in a mid-block location on Madison. There are big windows so you can be seen enjoying a five dollar cup of something. Five dollars is easier to swallow than the watches or jewels, nowadays.

Are all these bank branches just a form of advertising too? I don't see how they can pay for one on every corner just with walk-in business.

i've seen the same thing since about half a year ago. my guess is that landlords (coops mostly) are delusional. they don't want to recognize that they have to roll back the rent increases they imposed during the bubble. on the contrary they think that they can increase rents even more, trying to use their retail to bring common costs down for those living there. crazy!

admin, it always happens during a bubble. toward the top the landlords start raising rents and tenants have to leave. during the descent another large number of tenants have to leave as their leases expire because they can't make the numbers work any more. re the banks, they have to wait until they can sublease, their leases expire, or FDIC/bankruptcy (does anyone know if Chase is giving the manhattan WaMu branches over to the FDIC?) same with the drugsstores. i read that DuaneReade is on someone's watch list for potential bankruptcy. that's a lot of storefront.

dwell...the empty stores i saw were on the east side of the street below 79th street but above 75th..they were three stores in a row. I was surprised because I haven't been uptown in a long time and it threw me.

I walked up Madison Ave on April 2nd and here's the count I had on vacancies. About the same number I counted in late February, but I count "renovating" storefronts in addition, as the purpose of the renovation is not always clear
________________Empty Stores ________Renovating
57 to 72nd __________19 __________________9 _______storefronts
72 to 79th ____________6 __________________1 _______storefronts

35 storefronts either closed or renovating have an impact on the other stores operating on Madison. The stores open had little foot traffic in or around them. Most popular store was Nepresso, the high end Starbucks for Madison Ave.

Took another count this week, Nov 2010. There appears to be more storefronts "announcing" openings, but there is little activity around some of these. Not much has changed in 20 months. Obama should have been looking to Madison Avenue for the election predictor. What's good for Madison Avenue is good for Main Street!!!

________________Empty Stores or Renovating
57 to 72nd _________________30________storefronts
72 to 79th _________________13_________storefronts

interesting--thks sv

"so, the companies provided additional dollars from their advertising/marketing budgets to make the rental math work. those same companies are now cutting that support, thus the stores don't make economic sense at current rents, so they move."

True on the advertising budgets, there is something to be said for having a flagship on Madison from a brand equity point of view. Just don't ask me to quantify it. Moving is a bit harder. Most retail leases on Madison Ave are for 10+ years. The only way a company "moves" is if their term is up and they don't want / can't afford the space or they go bankrupt and can get out of the lease.

No worries mate. If we follow japan's 10 yr plan all the store on madison will be filled with Hooters and $100yen stores! Thnk you Bernie.