Retailers selling fashion now want to sell the bangle bracelet along with it, as well as the scarf and the perfume. While the size of traditional stores were between 500 and 1,000 sq ft, it is now common for retailers to seek 20,000 to 40,000 sq ft to get their message across. New Yorkers still want affordable options in their own neighbourhood, says Mr Futterman. The rise in rents, along with the redevelopment of some of Manhattan's seediest neighbourhoods for residential and commercial use, is spreading retail establishments into the most unlikely places. Also, the area south of Houston Street and that between Manhattan's three bridges to Brooklyn, are now well established tourist districts.
Shoppers seeking an atmosphere off the beaten track want to find another neighbourhood.
Consolo argues that retailers taking prime sites on Madison Avenue are not simply there to achieve maximum sales per sq ft. Others, she adds, may be seeking a stock market listing and having an upmarket Madison Avenue facia where investment bankers are likely to shop is as effective a form of promotion as any. Besides, shopping in Manhattan is a far cry from the experience of selling out of a suburban mall, and retailers want to associate their product with that excitement.