Joseph Aquino, the one-time manager for a collection of Jack LaLanne fitness center franchises, has become a mainstay of the Manhattan retail scene, according to the New York Observer, which profiled the luxury fashion aficionado. Aquino, a Prudential Douglas Elliman broker whose name is synonymous with partner and retail powerhouse Faith Hope Consolo, has brokered deals for brands like Hermes and David Yurman during his 25-year career in real estate, during which time he’s brokered around $2 billion in deals. Aquino can also take credit for bringing off-beat brands to the city — he recently brokered a deal for Indian haute couture brand Kamaya to lease 4,300-square-feet at 717 Madison Avenue between 63rd and 64th streets. [NYO]

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From left: the new Hermès store at 690 Madison Avenue during its renovation and after

For months the façade of 690 Madison Avenue was under wraps, but the identity of the creature beneath the elaborate chrysalis was hardly in doubt: the store, after all, was covered in what looked unmistakably like a massive orange Hermès gift box. The gift was unveiled and Madison Avenue is the better for it — the first Hermès store for men. A turn-of-the-century townhouse in a landmark district formerly occupied by the Italian haberdasher Luca Luca has been fundamentally transformed. For starters, it used to be white, with marble rustication climbing up to the cornice over the second story. Now it is decked out in dark stone cladding up to the same height, and thereafter the white paint has been peeled off to reveal the original red brick. [more]

For proof that the recession has pummeled retailers in upscale areas, consider the fate of East Hampton. By January, brokers say, an unprecedented half-dozen stores were
shuttered along Main Street and Newtown Lane in the town, which is the
heart of the Hamptons, the tony summer getaway on Long Island’s Eastern
End. Worsening their situation, landlords on those streets, which brokers say can command
up to $200 a square foot, for months have seemed reluctant to lower prices to fill
empty berths. But now, with summer just weeks away, property owners are relenting;
they’re offering dramatically shortened leases to lure penny-pinching
tenants. These leases, which historically lasted 10 years, can now be
had for as short as five months. [more]