Bridget Foley’s Diary: What’s Next for Fifth Avenue?

On Monday, Tommy Hilfiger vacated its Fifth Avenue flagship. Two weeks ago, Hudson Yards heralded its opening with a big, splashy party for 17,000 Very Important People. Those two events send quite different messages about the future of physical retail in Manhattan. The Hilfiger closing was but the latest of several high-profile exits from Fifth Avenue, once one of the world’s most-revered shopping streets and still among its most famous and expensive in terms of rents. The vacancy joined those left by Polo Ralph Lauren, Henri Bendel and Lord & Taylor, with an incoming resident secured only for that last space, Hudson’s Bay having sold the former Lord & Taylor flagship building to WeWork as part of its exit plan. While the impact of technology and e-commerce on physical retail is enormous, the aura of Fifth Avenue started changing long ago, its transition from tony shopping enclave to an egalitarian mix of high and mass driven by the street’s status as a major tourist destination. The store closures feel like more than a natural evolution of that change, particularly so Hilfiger’s, a brand not tied to the luxury sector. Taken in concert, they seem to forebode a Fifth Avenue future dramatically disconnected

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD https://ift.tt/2WzctN0