I mean when I first saw the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue store wrapped in fencing topped with razor wire I thought it was some sort of butch, 70's-gritty-industrial, psuedo-downscale promotion for the brand:
But no, it was defense-in-depth: security guards, then the fence, then the plywood.
And around the corner the guards have attack dogs described as "Not very nice."
From the New York Times, August 11:
For years, Bryant Park Grill & Cafe in Midtown Manhattan has been one of the countrys top-grossing restaurants, the star property in Ark Restaurants portfolio of 20 restaurants across the United States.
But what propelled it to the top has vanished.The tourists are gone, the office towers surrounding it are largely empty and the restaurants 1,000-seat dining room is closed. Instead, dinner is cooked and served on its patio, and the scaled-down restaurant brings in about $12,000 a day an 85 percent plunge in revenue, its chief executive said.
Five months into the pandemic, the drastic turn of events at businesses like Bryant Park Grill & Cafe that are part of national chains shows how the economic damage in New York has in many cases been far worse than elsewhere in the country.
In the heart of Manhattan, national chains including J.C. Penney, Kate Spade, Subway and Le Pain Quotidien have shuttered branches for good. Many other large brands, like Victorias Secret and the Gap, have their kept high-profile locations closed in Manhattan, while reopening in other states.
Michael Weinstein, the chief executive of Ark Restaurants, who owns Bryant Park Grill & Cafe and 19 other restaurants, said he will never open another restaurant in New York.
Of Ark Restaurants five Manhattan restaurants, only two have reopened, while its properties in Florida where the virus is far worse have expanded outdoor seating with tents and tables into their parking lots, serving almost as many guests as they had indoors.Theres no reason to do business in New York, Mr. Weinstein said. I can do the same volume in Florida in the same square feet as I would have in New York, with my expenses being much less. The idea was that branding and locations were important, but the expense of being in this city has overtaken the marketing group that says you have to be there.Even as the city has contained the virus and slowly reopens, there are ominous signs that some national brands are starting to abandon New York. The city is home to many flagship stores, chains and high-profile restaurants that tolerated astronomical rents and other costs because of New Yorks global cachet and the reliable onslaught of tourists and commuters.
But New York today looks nothing like it did just a few months ago.In Manhattans major retail corridors, from SoHo to Fifth Avenue to Madison Avenue, once packed sidewalks are now nearly empty. A fraction of the usual army of office workers goes into work every day, and many wealthy residents have left the city for second homes.
Many stores are still closed, some permanently, while those that are open have very little foot traffic.For four months, the Victorias Secret flagship store at Herald Square in Manhattan has been closed and not paying its $937,000 monthly rent. It will be years before retail has even a chance of returning to New York City in its pre-Covid form, the retailers parent company recently told its landlord in a legal document....
....MUCH MORE
