Monday, November 21st, 2011

MUW readers can always be counted on!

On Thursday night I posted about a mystery storefront at 2381 Broadway (between 87th & 88th) and asked for help with identifying it.

On Friday, MUW reader Betsy came through with the answer.

A construction worker at the site revealed to her that the space is slated to become a Brooks Brothers.

I’ve since confirmed this with staff at the other UWS Brooks Brothers (1934 Broadway, at 65th) — they say the new store is supposed to be open by February (the existing one at West 65th will remain open).

2381 Broadway was most recently home to one of the Uniqlo pop-up shops that was open during the summer Prior to that, I believe it was the Malaysia Grill restaurant.

Elsewhere…

As one iconic clothing brand plans an opening, another one is planning to close a location just one block south.

A press release from RKF, the retail leasing agent for 2373 Broadway (northwest corner of 86th), announced that Gap Inc. will not be renewing their lease there. I don’t have an exact closing date, but the space will be available for possession starting in February.

Gap has been struggling of late and announced last month they were closing 189 stores — apparently the 86th Street location will be one of those. Their other Upper West Side store at 1988 Broadway (between 67th & 68th) appears to be safe (for now).

The 2373 Broadway space is located on the ground floor of the The Boulevard, a luxury co-op. It totals 12,290 square feet of retails space (8,018 on the ground floor and 4,272 on the mezzanine level) and features 150 of wraparound corner frontage along Broadway & 86th. Per the press release:

“A retail space like this rarely becomes available on the 86th Street corridor,” said RKF Vice President Joshua Strauss. “Its location next to a major transportation hub and among co-tenants including Banana Republic, Club Monaco, PC Richard & Son, Aldo, Gristedes, Victoria’s Secret, and Coach, makes the 2373 Broadway retail space an ideal flagship opportunity for a brand looking to expand its New York City footprint.”

That’s going to be a fairly large empty space once Gap moves out. No word yet on potential tenants, but the landlord will consider dividing the space — so there might be two or more smaller stores if one large tenant can’t be found.

And speaking of empty space… if you missed the post on Friday afternoon, the liquidation sale at Syms/Filene’s has started.

Filed under: Discounts, Fashion, Manhattan, New York City, News, Openings/Closings, Real Estate, Shopping, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 3 Comments »
Tags: 2373 Broadway, 2381 Broadway, Brooks Brothers, Closing, Clothing, Fashion, Filene's Basement, Gap Inc, liquidation sale, men's clothing, New York City, NYC, Opening, Retail, RKF, SYMS Tailored Tux & Men's Store, The Gap, Upper West Side, UWS