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Madison Avenue glitz marches north

Hip stores like Coach are on Madison between 77th and 85th streets

From the April issue: Madison Avenue might be the quintessential American luxury shopping strip. But as rents continue their steep rise and the dollar remains weak, many domestic retailers are looking north of the traditional ultra-exclusive span from 57th to 72nd streets. Don't feel too sorry for the migrating stores. While spending less, they're finding that a slightly younger — but still affluent — customer is in the northern neighborhood and ready to shop. "There is a definite trend with retail and fashion tenants moving north on Madison because of lack of available space options and aggressive rents further down," said Robin Abrams, executive vice president of Lansco Corporation. "Fashion and luxury brands were focused in the mid-60s, and then tenants moving to the mid-to-high 70s made it viable for fashion brands to look as high as 79th Street."  more