By Matt Chaban 8/24/12 4:06pm

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Prime real estate. (Google Maps)

Meatpacking District Officially Dead as Last Independent Butcher Makes Way for More Luxury Retail

The Meatpacking District is now as dead as the cattle carcasses that once poured blood onto its cobblestone streets. The last independent meat supplier in a neighborhood that once has more than 200 has moved into a city-controlled co-op in the neighborhood, the last redoubt of steaks and chops in the area. Weischel Beef is being replaced with—yep—more high-end retail, according to The Real Deal. Read More

By Kim Velsey 8/16/12 3:54pm

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Uptown becomes more downmarket.

Madison Avenue Is the New Meatpacking District Is the New SoHo

Once upon a time, different kinds of shops existed in different neighborhoods, catering to the different people who lived in those neighborhoods. Quaint, right? But that was then and this is now. And now every corner of Manhattan has been pretty thoroughly colonized, and homogenized, by upscale chain stores.

The transformation doesn’t only happen to formerly-gritty, formerly-edgy neighborhoods, either. The New York Times reports that Madison Avenue is the latest location to undergo such delightful changes—changes that have helped the street shake off its post-recession malaise at the same time that retailers like Juicy Couture and J.Crew are not exactly brands that the most insular and upscale of all Manhattan shopping districts would have originally welcomed with open arms. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/15/12 2:19pm

Tales of Retail

Ready to party. (Max Carr)

Michael Weiss’ Homecoming: Brooklyn Boy Brings Express to the Fulton Mall

Much has been made of the Fulton Mall’s transformation over the past few years (not least in these pages). New shops, new sweets, new people. No one knows this better than Michael Weiss, the CEO of Express. Sure, the career garmento with slicked back white hair and severe glasses likes the location for his newest outlet, set to open this evening with a big block party outside the new store at 490 Fulton Street.

But his love for the strip goes back much farther than that. Mr. Weiss’ first job was as a management trainee and associate buyer at the old Abraham & Strauss, one of the four department stores that helped solidify the Fulton Mall as Brooklyn’s main shopping destination.

“Except in those days, it wasn’t called the Fulton Mall, it was just Fulton Street,” Mr. Weiss joked. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/03/12 5:40pm

Walmart Wars

Walmart strikes out once again. (Related Companies)

Just How Desperate Is Walmart to Open in New York—And Have They Lost All Their Allies?

The press release came in even before The Observer had seen the initial report that prompted it.

“We have not had any talks with Walmart about a location at Willets Point and we have absolutely no intention of discussing this site with them,” the email statement read.

Who knew! And yet it made perfect sense, as the company has been looking for any opening imaginable in the city. Read More

By Alexandra Dean Hitzler 7/18/12 3:41pm

Making History

Big government meets big business.

Market Ready: Landmarks Commission Approves Brooklyn Municipal Building Shops, Insisting It’s Pro-Business

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has been on the defensive of late, fighting off claims from the real estate industry that it hinders development rather than helping it. But in givings its unanimous approval to the transformation of the Brooklyn Municipal Building—in the newly created, much maligned Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper Historic District—the commission reasserted its role as a steward of both the city’s history and economy.

“It proves again and I don’t know how many times we have to do it, that economic development and preservation go hand in hand and here’s a textbook example of it,” Commissioner Chairman Robert Tierney said in an email. Read More

By Matt Chaban 2/06/12 10:21am

Apple Kool-Aid

Dig in!

Apple Juices Grand Central: Sales Spill Over Into Surrounding Shops

The new Apple store in Grand Central Terminal is a lovely, understated project in one of the city’s premier public spaces.

All the same, some sour apples have been complaining that the Cult of Steve has been paying below market rents for its space, leading to an investigation by the state. The M.T.A. counters that Apple is still paying more than the previous tenant, and its arrival means bigger revenues across Grand Central, given Apple’s appeal. This latter bet appears to be paying off. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/25/12 10:41am

Making History

Here to stay. (Getty)

Big Real Estate Could Not Knock Down the Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper District

Downtown Brooklyn developers and cooperators, with a hefty helping hand from the real estate lobby, threw everything they could at the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District, a new landmarking effort aimed at saving the area’s historic highrises. In the end, the preservationists won out, as a City Council subcommittee voted unanimously yesterday to approve the historic district, all but ensuring its passage by the full council on February 1. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/18/12 10:37am

Apple Kool-Aid

Cornering Queens?

iQueens: Second Outer Borough Apple Store Won’t Be in Brooklyn?

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has been stamping his feet for years over his desire to land the holy grail of retailers: an Apple Store. After all, the M.T.A. bent over backwards to bringing a glowing Temple of Jobs into Grand Central. But it looks like Marty can forget about it, as Apple may be opening its next outer borough outlet in Queens County, not Kings County. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/12/12 10:51am

Tales of Retail

Shrink to fit. (wilm23/Flickr)

UWS Fights Back Against Chain Stores

Maybe the Fulton Mall just needs some zoning changes to save its mom and pop shops. That’s what they’re doing on the Upper West Side, tired of all the giant Duane Reades and Chases. New zoning requirements would limit the size of stores on Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, protecting the character of the neighborhood and possibly discouraging national retailers, who tend to prefer bigger spaces.

Not surprisingly, landlords are not happy about the proposal, according to The Journal. Read More