Retail Rents Plummet Across New York City, As America’s Glitzy Shopping Districts Turn Into Ghost Towns
High-end handbag maker Valentino is suing to get out of its lease on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a vacated Barneys New York still sits empty on Madison Avenue just a block over, while bankrupted luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus is shutting its doors for good on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. As the coronavirus pandemic brings tourism to a temporary standstill, leaves consumers holed up at home and puts millions out of work, America’s glitziest and most expensive retail districts are losing tenants, and rents are in a free fall. The pressures from the Covid-19 crisis will likely have a lasting impact on shopping streets such as Michigan Avenue — better-known as the “Magnificent Mile” — in Chicago, the Las Vegas Strip, and Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, to name a few. Read more at CNBC.
