New York City’s Increasing Retail Vacancies
There is a very interesting front page NYT article on the Big Apple’s damaged Retail sector. Some of the data points were quite surprising:
• Manhattan’s vacancy rate is 6.5%, and is expected to surpass 10% sometime next year;
• The vacancy rate is now the highest since the early 1990s;
• In Soho, 1 in 10 stores are empty;
• In Brooklyn and Queens, the overall vacancy rate is 7-10%;
• By the end of 2009, the expected vacancy rate for the Outer Boroughs is 12-15%;
• In some of the worst hit neighborhoods, vacancies range from 25-40%;
• Store closings have hit NYC tax base by 3%, lowering it from over $4.3 billion to $4.15B.
Not a surprise, but shocking nonetheless
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Graphic courtesy of NYT
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Source:
Stores Go Dark Where Buyers Once Roamed
CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY
NYT July 20, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/nyregion/21vacancies.html
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July 21st, 2009 at 2:28 pm
LB has seen empty storefronts everywhere from the upper west side to 5th and Madison Avenues. There is apparently a finite limit on the burgeoning number of Duane Reade and CVS stores that Manhattan can accommodate. Every other retail business seems dead in the water.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Good, we badly need this purge. After all who needs two Starbucks across from each other on the same street?
New York won’t be the same in a few years from now.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
That just means cheap retail space for all those small businesses starting up as reflected in the BLS birth/death stats, don’tcha know? I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised to hear something like that come out of the mouth of one of those asshats on CNBC who think we’re bouncing out of this recession with big fat profit margins.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Are they opening a Fresh N Easy on every other block in NYC like they are out west?
July 21st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
hah. i JUST wrote about this exact same article – what troubled me was the suggestion that we need the government to get involved! no – we need rents to fall!
one thing that i still don’t understand is how space stays vacant for so long – there is retail space in my ‘hood (west village) that has been vacant for FIVE years… i cannot comprehend the logic from the landlord’s point of view.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
“Good, we badly need this purge”
Hoping that includes some bonus babies and NYC realtards as well, so sick of those people’s arrogance.
“who needs two Starbucks?”
Or even one, revolting coffee and annoying paraphernalia. Begone. Cheap rents, independent coffee houses.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
LB – agree with you on Starbucks, terrible coffee. When you’ve got Mc Donald’s and Dunkin Donuts beating you on taste it’s time to die.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Brazil coffee house in Murray hill (and in Midtown west) is better than S*bucks. But I much prefer making my own coffee with French coffee press at home.
Speaking of coffee, it is interesting to see Scandinavia tops the list of countries in Coffee consumption per capita.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_coffee_consumption_per_capita
July 21st, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I didn’t realize “Scandinavia” was a country…
July 21st, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Tesco is behind Fresh N Easy.
Do you know something about that leftback?
July 21st, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Yall are crazy… SBUX has some great coffee’s.
Man… bella vista tres rios, shade grown mexico, serena organic, breakfast blend, colombian…
You’re missing out!!!
July 21st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Oh… and how could I forget…
Brazil Ipanema Bourbon
or
Casi cielo
Seriously you guys… if you like good coffee… how can you not be a fan?
http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/c16-whole-bean-coffee.aspx
July 21st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
If it wasn’t clear, Scandinavia = Denmark, Sweden & Norway (sometimes includes Finland). I grouped them together when I mentioned “Scandinavia”. Read the article in the link, then you will understand.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:30 pm
@I-Man: That may be true where you at dog, near SBUX HQ – but it’s burned brown water they dish out for USA.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Maybe they keep the good shit local…
JK…
I’m just real serious about coffee, and have a fondness for devils advocate.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I didn’t know I-Man wasn’t in the US – where you at buddy?
July 21st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
My favorite bean is the simple Starbucks French Roast I purchase from Costco in the 5 lb bags.. very dark and very oily. I freshly grind them each morning and only use a French Press.. If someone can recommend a richer, darker, oiler bean, I’ll try it… I had some Swedish coffee when in NY.. Fika that was okay if I ordered a small with two shots of expresso.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
espresso, finger slipped..
July 21st, 2009 at 3:36 pm
When did they move S*bux HQ out from Seattle to another country :)
Karen: Fika is the new swedish coffee place in my hood. Place is always packed.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Try the Italian roast sometime. Thats what they grind for their espresso… tastes pretty good with a coarse grind through a press.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Well this ought to prove it to the Most skeptical that trickle down doesn’t work. +700 billion and then some and this is the result.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Just pullin’ your chain manhattanguy ;-)
July 21st, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Seattle is another country in coffee culture, compared to most of the USA.
Karen, can’t believe you were in NY and didn’t stop by the office to inspect our portfolio.
LB could have ordered from Dunkin’ Donuts.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:36 pm
>> After all who needs two Starbucks across from each other on the same street?
What if I don’t want to walk across the street for my coffee? Yeah, yeah, next you’ll be saying “back when I was your age, we used to have to walk *several blocks* to find the nearest coffee shop.”
Oh, grandpa…
July 21st, 2009 at 4:42 pm
I liked Starbucks before. But, now that I hear Mickey Dee’s advertising portray Starbucks as elitist, I appreciate it even more and go to Starbucks exclusively. (Was that the point of the ad?)
July 21st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
“portray Starbucks as elitist”
This is part of a new counter-trend whereby everything associated with the go-go 90s and 00s will be rejected.
Shabby chic will be in, except in Williamsburg, where any kind of chic will get you kicked into the East River.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:57 pm
@lefty
Meet the new grunge…same as the old grunge…
July 21st, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I never drink coffee, have literally had 1 cup my entire life. That said, I hear the WaWa coffee in my area is just as good as SBUX. Maybe they could expand if some of the NYC sbux close.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I’ve only got one thing to say…
Shattered…she do be do…
July 21st, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I used to visit Seattle occasionally when I lived in Portland. In my opinion, the coffee in Seattle tastes the same as it does in New York.
Also, I’ve done my own taste – tests. If you don’t like to go in and order a double-mocca-chocca-cocoaey-frappa-skim-latte-no-whip-chocolate sprinkles, pay no attention to Starbucks. I tend to go into a place and order a medium house blend black. McDonalds is better than Starbucks. Most places are.
The best coffee I’ve had in my life… I don’t even know what kind it was. My roommate’s girlfriend sent us some coffee from Mexico once and we destroyed that back with nothing more than a french press. Amazing stuff. I wish I would have paid more attention.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Don’t cha know the cap rate is going up, UP, UP, UP, AAAHHHHP?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th47siid6_k
July 21st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
McDonald’s coffee is surprisingly good (and great for the price.) They use a cold concentrate process that arguably produces a better cup of joe than the drip machines.
SBUX is trapped between McDonald’s increasingly good and cost-conscious coffee options (and simply better, tastier food options) and the boutique coffee shops coming from above and stealing their more quality-sensitive customers. They educated a lot of this country about better coffee but as a mass-chain they have trouble competing on pure quality against small coffee shops with highly skilled baristas (and really, where would you rather work if you had those skills.)
I live at the edge of SoHo and it’s the luxury fashion boutiques that are getting crushed, not the coffee shops, pizza places or other businesses that serve mostly the neighborhood folks. Restaurants and bars also seem to be doing okay. It’s the places with $500 sun dresses going belly-up – I’d guess as much as 25-30% of them, whereas I can’t think of a single food joint that’s gone out of business here in the last year.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:08 pm
@Karen
Tried Sumatran dark roasted? It been my fave for several years now. The first time I tried it, I knew I had found MY coffee — rich deep flavor, low acid (I dislike Columbian), and not bitter like French and Italian roasts.
Enjoy!
July 21st, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Coffee…
http://www.dorks.com/videos/Bud-Light—Steaming-Cup-of-Coffee.html
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Maybe it’s time for some of these “chain” resturants and retailers to take a step back and let some of the old school mom & pop places have a chance again. I think it will make a refreshing change to have the personal customer service back.
As for coffee – my pic is D&D!