By Matt Chaban 1/18/12 11:40am

Tales of Retail

Shiny new sales. (Brownstoner)

Discounts Galore! Century 21 May Bring Bargains to Fulton Mall

If the Fulton Mall is being transformed, it is only so much. The strip is being glammed up, stocked with major national retailers, at the cost of the mom and pops who have called the mall home for decades.

Still, things are not changing so much. As previously, pretentiously noted, Smith Street it ain’t, nor is it going to be. This is still a discount strip. From H&M to Target, the Gap to the almost-Filene’s, the newcomers have been far from high end—not counting the hamburgers. For further proof of the trend toward the same, welcome Century 21 to the neighborhood. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 12/07/11 1:00pm

Whale Watch

The Category Killer.

Wooing Walmart: NYC brokers still have eyes for elusive retailer

The weekly phone calls. The dinner invites. The gifts.

When representatives from Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, waltz into the New York Hilton for this year’s two-day International Council of Shopping Centers conference, many of the city’s most intrepid retail brokers will be close behind them, perhaps even plying those officials with compliments, dinner invitations and business opportunities. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/07/11 2:48pm

Tales of Retail

Big time.

Century 21, Tourist Horde's Favorite Department Store, Expanding Just in Time for Ground Zero Crowds

It may be the worst shopping experience after the Trader Joe’s in Union Square. Still, when Century 21 is good, it’s really good. Dress shoes, bow ties, and some of the best clearance deals in town—if you can stand slapdash shelves and crammed clothes racks, the flood of tourists fighting for clothes and the woefully indifferent staff, the store can be a goldmine.

These problems could be disappearing as Century 21 plans to expand its downtown flagship in the coming months, according to Crain’s. Well, everything except for the rudeniks behind those red aprons. Read More