More and more shops and restaurants can no longer afford the high rents in Manhattan.
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(Photo: AP)
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New York City The restaurants “Republic” and “Blue Water Grill” have existed since the 1990s. They were pioneers in Union Square, an area of Manhattan that was shabby at the time. Now it’s over: Both will close in the coming year. They are not single examples. All over New York not only do numerous restaurants close, but also all kinds of shops. The dark shop windows are so numerous that the former mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly worried: “You just have to open your eyes”.
The reasons for the mass closings are varied. But almost all shops have one problem in common: the steep rise in rents for commercial property. In New York, commercial leases typically run for five or ten years. If the time runs out, the landlord can adjust it to the market situation.
The “Blue Water Grill” shows what astronomical heights can be achieved in the Big Apple. The restaurant is closing because it is supposed to pay $ 2 million a year in rent – that’s $ 5,480 a day. Even the high-end restaurant with its high prices has to sell a few steaks or Eggs Benedict.
The rents are rising so strongly that even expensive brands like Marc Jacobs or Ralph Lauren to give up. It’s an irony of history. Because they displaced long-established boutiques like on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. The beautiful avenues and old houses, as well as the many advertisements in series such as “Sex and the City”, attracted designers in the 2000s.
A short time later, Marc Jacobs had six stores there, including Little Marc for children and a bookstore. Ralph Lauren came up with three stores, Coach two. Today, with the exception of the bookstore, only real estate agent signs hang in the shop windows: for rent.
But who should pay $ 30,000 to $ 35,000 a month in rent for small shops? On the few blocks of Bleecker Street between Christopher and Bank Streets alone, more than a dozen shops are empty. The owners aren’t going down with rents anytime soon. Sometimes it pays to leave them empty for tax reasons. And there are always courageous people like Orla Kiely, a designer from Ireland, or Enfold, a fashion brand from Japan, who want to have a figurehead in New York – until it becomes too expensive for them.
Unlike restaurants, traditional stores have another problem: Amazon. The online department store is hard to beat in terms of price and convenience and is constantly expanding its delivery range. Most recently it also added furniture to its range.
Long-established retailers like Saks on Fifth Avenue are using unusual means to lure customers into the store. The department store transformed an entire floor into “The Wellery”, a play on words with wellness. Customers should feel comfortable there and can breathe salty air for 25 minutes in the salt cabin, surrounded by caressing music and pink Himalayan salt walls. Or take part in fitness classes or have your toenails painted.
But the omnipotence of online shopping can be felt everywhere. It’s an irony of history: Whole Foods opened one of its first Manhattan stores in Union Square. Amazon took over the ecologically influenced supermarket chain a few days ago. You will be able to shop there for a long time to come. But going out to eat – that’s not so easy in Union Square anymore.
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