From the December issue: Manhattan’s department stores are under siege, as shoppers increasingly choose to go online rather than brave the city crowds. Last year, over $15 billion was spent in online shopping during the holiday shopping season, according to the digital research firm comScore, and that figure is expected to jump by as much as 15 percent in 2011.

In response to that and mega-stores like Uniqlo and Top Shop opening throughout the city, old-school department stores — like Saks, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Barneys and Lord & Taylor — have effectively doubled down, upgrading stores to the tune of a half-billion dollars. Indeed, last month Macy’s announced a planned $400 million renovation to its Herald Square flagship.

Over the past few years, department store sales have fallen nationwide, forcing these stalwarts to fight over a smaller share of the pie. As a result, sources say, when one store upgrades, it often creates a “copycat” effect among others who are fearful of looking dated. [more]

Sprinkles fan Oprah Winfrey, Sprinkles cupcakes and 780 Lexington Avenue (building photo: PropertyShark)

Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Sprinkles Cupcakes is coming to New York
City. The sweet shop has leased a 2,500-square-foot space at 780
Lexington Avenue, between 60th and 61st streets, across the street from
Bloomingdale’s. The store, at the former location of Gino’s Restaurant,
is slated to open in January 2011. Sierra Realty represented both the
tenant and the
landlord, 780-Lex Partnership, in the transaction. The store — with
its 20 different cupcake offerings and assorted toppings — has
attracted celebrity clients such as Tyra Banks, Russell Crowe and Oprah
Winfrey. “We knew Sprinkles’ Big Apple premiere deserved the ultimate
retail location,” said Peter Braus, an executive vice president at
Sierra. “So we found a space in the heart of the city’s most
productive, seven-day-per-week shopping district. We look forward to
finding other similarly high-profile locations for Sprinkles.” TRD

[more]

New Yorkers will be able to enjoy a variety of burgers in 2010 with the opening of a number of burger restaurants in Manhattan.

Elevation Burger, the Virginia-based chain specializing in an organic, grass-fed, free-range burger, has signed a lease for its first location at 103 West 14th Street in Union Square. The 1,900-square-foot restaurant will seat 50 to 60 guests. The restaurant, which will also have an outdoor café, is scheduled to open in May.

Also in May, Stephen Hanson and B. R. Guest Restaurants’, Bill’s Bar & Burger is scheduled to open in Rockefeller Center. The company has signed a lease for 10,000 square feet of space on the street and concourse levels at 50th and 51st streets, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The first Bill’s Bar & Burger opened in October 2009 in the Meatpacking District, as The Real Deal reported in “Burger Joints Supersizing“ in that month’s issue. [more]

Department store giant Macy’s will open a Bloomingdale’s Outlet store in the Bergen Town Center in Paramus, N.J., along with a pair of stores in South Florida. Terry Lundgren, Macy’s chairman, president and CEO, said the outlet stores will be in high-traffic locations that were picked with the help of real estate development partners. Bloomingdales has been slow to the game on outlet openings, particularly in the New York City area, with Nordstrom Rack planning an opening in Union Square, and more big-box retailers taking advantage of reduced rents.

Even though the stock market is rising, national and local landlords are bearing the brunt of the recession, especially when the tenants are jewelry retailers. A National Jeweler article noted that the top 50 North American jewelry chains have closed 891 retail locations in 2009. Last week, the fine jewelry retailer, Finlay Enterprises and its subsidiary Finlay Fine Jewelry, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had 182 department store-based jewelry departments and stand-alone jewelry stores at the end of the second quarter ending August 1, including 67 Bailey Banks & Biddle, 34 Carlyle and four Congress specialty jewelry stores and 77 licensed counters with Bon Ton department stores. [more]

The month of June is the time when nearly every department and
specialty store offers markdowns on the prices of merchandise. Brooks
Brothers, Saks Fifth Avenue, Thomas Pink, Bergdorf Goodman,
Bloomingdales and Lord & Taylor are offering discounts of as much as
50 percent off. With major bankruptcies in national and local
retailers, rents have dropped and continue to drop in selected markets
in New York City. Nevertheless, retailers are continuing to sign leases
for retail locations.

Joanne Podell, a broker at Cushman & Wakefield, said “despite
weaker retail sales, both national and local retailers continue to seek
opportunities in New York City. With lower asking rents by landlords,
there are tenants who in the past have not considered operating in New
York [that] are visiting this market.” [more]