Monday, February 27th, 2012

It might be a little hard to tell from this photo, but women’s clothing retailer Talbot’s (2289 Broadway, between 82nd & 83rd) has recently been downsized by about 50%.

The northern half of the store has been closed and a new wall has gone up creating two smaller spaces.

The salespeople I spoke to told me business wasn’t doing well and they gave up half their lease.

Talbot’s struggles seem to be company-wide, as opposed to just the Upper West Side location.

Their stock has taken a beating over the past few years and they recently had to secure a loan backed by their real estate assets and intellectual property. Within the release is a seemingly ominous reference to the company’s board continuing to “explore a full range of strategic alternatives to maximize value for all Talbots stockholders.” They’re also searching for a new president and CEO.

But back to the UWS…

The space Talbot’s gave up is fairly large. The early rumor (courtesy of Talbot’s employees) is that Harry’s Shoes — located on the other side of the now empty space, at 2299 Broadway — might be moving in.

I asked two employees at Harry’s about that and they both said “I don’t know,” in a tone that was entirely different than simply saying “no.”

So maybe Harry’s will be moving/expanding, maybe not. For now, there’s a huge vacant space on a prime stretch of Broadway.

Elsewhere…

Progress is being made at the former Edgar’s Cafe space (255 W. 84th, between Broadway & West End — directly across the street from tonight’s Person Of Interest filming).

Edgar’s closed in April after 20 years in business due to “lease issues” (the Amsterdam Avenue location is still open).

Work has been going on in the space for quite some time now, and the doorman of the neighboring building told me “a beauty salon” is moving in.

He heard they’d be opening in a week or so, but it looks to me like quite a bit more work needs to be done. Later in March seems more realistic.

Filed under: Beauty, Fashion, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Openings/Closings, Shopping, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 6 Comments »
Tags: 2289 Broadway, 2299 Broadway, 255 W 84, 255 West 84, Closing, Edgar's Cafe, Harry's Shoes, New York City, NYC, Opening, Talbot's, Upper West Side, UWS