Freakoutonomics

NY Mag surveyed more than 100 retailers in the city and came up with a terrific, very now look at how retailers are coping with changing consumer habits.  Reporter Michael Idov calls it "a retail shakeout of historic proportions."  "Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue and Soho are suddenly pocked with empty storefronts looking out on empty sidewalks," he writes, while some neighborhood commercial districts are experiencing vacancies of 20%. 

And yet, New Yorkers have not stopped shopping or eating out or getting their nails done.  They are just choosing to do it differently.

You have to cheer the gutsy retailers who are taking advantage of declining real estate values to sign 10-year leases and even open new stores.  And the young restaurateurs who are selling more vegetable dishes, but will flip burgers if that's what it takes to keep going.

We should all go out and do the same kind of exploration in our own cities to figure out what we can do to help the people who give our cities so much of their vibrancy.  But in the meantime, read Mr. Idov's article.

Note:  In contrast to the spunky retailers interviewed by Idov, I was in NYC last week and couldn't believe how indifferent the sales clerks were.  Maybe it's the boredom.  No one was busy -- no one -- but I never even got a nod in three Fifth Avenue stores.  I left one store when I could get no one's attention, then decided to return after realizing that I really wanted to see something in the window.  Even on the second trip in, I had to march up to a sales clerk and ask for help.  In a second store a few minutes later, I stood in line patiently waiting to be called on.  When no one even looked up and the clerks continued talking among themselves, I took my purchases to the counter and said, "Can I pay you for these?"  A sad experience, especially in this economy.

  

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