And now, the latest from Racked NY, covering shopping retail from the sidewalks up.
1) Midtown East: A Brazilian company is the new owner of 145 East 57th Street, which means Hammacher Schlemmer is probably on the way out of the storefront it's had for eighty years. Other retailers, look for branding and naming rights to the building to hit the market post-renovation.
2) MePa: Gansevoort Street's Shelly Steffee boutique is closing its doors "due to issues with our lease negotiations." Is the High Line using its powers to raise rents?
3) East Village: Extra Place, the gritty street behind CBGB's, hasn't quite gentrified as promised. In advance of an art gallery opening there tonight, the block has three open stores, plus four or five empty ones.
· Racked [ny.racked.com]