The lowdown on high streets

From the January issue: The high streets are flying higher than ever in the City of Angels, with top-tier retailers setting up shop in the city’s swanky shopping districts like Rodeo Drive and Abbot Kinney. 

Yet while demand from global luxury brands has been propelling rents and investment sales along the famous shopping streets, many affluent Americans say that this year, they’re planning to curtail their spending amid the uncertain economic outlook.

Americans earning at least $150,000 annually said they planned to spend around $16,000 on luxury goods in the coming year, a 20 percent decline over the previous year, according to a 2016 annual report from the Luxury Institute.

The good news for brick-and-mortar stores and for those in retail real estate is that a rising share of affluent consumers — 54 percent, up from 49 percent a year earlier — said they preferred to make major purchases in shops, the report said. [More]