East Hampton getting too expensive for Gucci, Brooks Brothers

Even East Hampton’s most luxurious retailers are having a difficult time keeping up with their rents on the island’s posh shopping strip, and some are going so far as to give up their coveted spots. Gucci, Brooks Brothers, Cole Haan and Calypso Home are among the stores ditching their pricey digs in advance of the typically busy summer season. With rents as much as $200 per square foot, retailers have always struggled to turn a profit in East Hampton, but brokers say that in normal economic times, brands were willing to take the loss. “The chains want an East Hampton store just for advertising, to be able to put it on their letterhead,” said Lee Minetree, a senior vice president at Saunders & Associates. Now, priorities have shifted and there are close to 30 shuttered storefronts on East Hampton’s main shopping stretch. [Post]