Manhattan’s Shuttered Storefronts Tell A Larger American Story

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Just a side note, I realize I still have a CD tower (haha remember those?) that I bought from IKEA back in the 90s when I was still in college. It's in my room at my parents' house.

I had two DVD towers straddling my TV. Now those DVDs are in the back of some cabinet and I can't remember the last time I watched a DVD, maybe around 2011?

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Because it is not a flattering thing to say to someone. Telling someone that their house looks like IKEA is like saying they are unoriginal.

I shop at IKEA, for the record.

An alternative view is that it’s saying they are someone “on the move”. A lot of this is marketing, of course, but I (who have never been in an IKEA store and wouldn’t recognize their stuff) recall reading an article about “up and comers” buying it because it’s completely disposable and every time they move they can just junk everything and buy some more at the new address.

I will say that although not an IKEA customer, I do have a Danish teak dining room table and chairs and a Danish leather lounge chair in my living room. Scandinavian furniture is the right scale for a lot of smaller city apartments.

[coyotetrickster]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

There definitely are. In Greater LA alone, I think there are 4 of them.

I knew a guy in the Bay Area (where I think there's only 1 or 2 of them), and he said that before the one in Sacramento opened up, while he was at the Emeryville store, he talked to a guy who drove all the way from Reno to the Bay Area just to shop at IKEA. Go figure.

IKEA is building its third store in the Bay Area and considering a fourth at the planned redevelopment of the Concord Naval Station.

[McBane]

The entire premise of this article seems off. How can anyone make any correlation between things that happen in Manhattan and the rest of America? NYC and Manhattan in particular are outliers, even amongst other large cities.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

An alternative view is that it’s saying they are someone “on the move”. A lot of this is marketing, of course, but I (who have never been in an IKEA store and wouldn’t recognize their stuff) recall reading an article about “up and comers” buying it because it’s completely disposable and every time they move they can just junk everything and buy some more at the new address.

I will say that although not an IKEA customer, I do have a Danish teak dining room table and chairs and a Danish leather lounge chair in my living room. Scandinavian furniture is the right scale for a lot of smaller city apartments.

There's a difference between Scandinavian furniture and IKEA. There are a few high end furniture retail stores that cater to the Scandinavian look, especially in NYC. But it's pretty easy to tell that they are not IKEA.

There is nothing wrong with IKEA, just like there is nothing wrong with K Mart, Target, McDonalds, or any other mass market company. People at every income level shop at Target, but many people would take offense if you told them their house looks like Target. People of every income and physical condition eat at McDonalds, but many people would take offense if you told them that they look like they eat at McDonalds.

[mrnyc]

ikea is changing gears just like a lot of retail.

the suburban big box ikea is faltering.

they are laying off 7500 workers.

there is a shift coming to urban ikeas.

they are going for 30 of them now, with more to come no doubt if they are successful.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90275562...e-in-manhattan

[iheartthed]

Why does this article confuse Manhattan's vacancy rate with that of the entire city?

According to some, the sky is falling. As one representative of the real-estate company Douglas Elliman told The New York Times, 20 percent of Manhattan’s retail space is vacant. A separate survey from Morgan Stanley determined that a similar share of street-level retail space along the borough’s most high-end corridors is “available,” meaning either vacant or seeking a new lease-holder. It’s as if the global capital of capital is becoming a rich ghost town, as I recently wrote.

Or maybe this is an invented crisis. That 20 percent statistic? It’s a complete fabrication, according to Rebecca Baird-Remba, a reporter for the Commercial Observer. Alternative estimates from the city and other real estate companies peg the city’s vacancy rate at 10 percent or even lower.

One thing I have noticed in the last few years, is that Manhattan doesn't have the monopoly on shopping in NYC that it used to. The SoHo boutiques from the 2000s seem to have all relocated to Williamsburg, and left SoHo for the deep pocketed labels. There is an Apple Store next to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. There are two full size Targets within blocks of each other in downtown Brooklyn and Atlantic Terminal.

New York seems to be getting a bit more poly-centric, as opposed to its traditional hyper focus on Manhattan. This is probably needed for the city to grow, but the development could easily start to feed off of more traditional hubs in the city if that growth is not materializing as anticipated.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

An alternative view is that it’s saying they are someone “on the move”. A lot of this is marketing, of course, but I (who have never been in an IKEA store and wouldn’t recognize their stuff) recall reading an article about “up and comers” buying it because it’s completely disposable and every time they move they can just junk everything and buy some more at the new address.

I remember a marketing campaign from IKEA back in I think the mid or late 90s, where it seemed they were marketing towards divorced people. There was a TV commercial they'd show, where a middle-aged woman/actress was shown shopping for furniture and housewares at an IKEA, with her voice-over talking about "starting over." I remember the commercial depressed me... I guess because I also interpreted her as being a widow.

[mhays]

I equate them with Office Space....random suburban apartment filled with stuff that kind of looks good but is crappily made.

[badrunner]

I never liked the IKEA aesthetic. It's like the pomo of furniture. They only look good against featureless white walls and are a mismatch in any interior with a traditional architectural style.

[austlar1]

Ikea sells lots and lots of different things household related. The furniture is kind of cheesy and not very well made. Having said that, I 'll admit to the fact that I once owned two modular looking love seats from Ikea that had removable red leather covers. Those love seats were quite attractive. Everybody seemed to like them. They found useful spots in various corners of my home or office for almost twenty years. I lost them in a fire and rather miss them. I bought them at the Ikea at Potomac Mills back in 1992. I also have a few kitchen items from Ikea that are well designed and well made. Ditto for some everyday dishes that are really quite nice and very affordable. It's fun to dis Ikea. The stores are EXHAUSTING. Just try to figure a quick way to get in and out of one. The entire experience leaves one truly eager to escape. Still, if you have the time and energy, there are good things to be found there.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by austlar1

there are good things to be found there.

The best thing, I hear, is the Swedish meatballs.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

The best thing, I hear, is the Swedish meatballs.

Well, those meatballs probably help folks find the energy to deal with the place.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

New York seems to be getting a bit more poly-centric, as opposed to its traditional hyper focus on Manhattan. This is probably needed for the city to grow, but the development could easily start to feed off of more traditional hubs in the city if that growth is not materializing as anticipated.

Makes for a better visitor/tourist experience too. You'll see so many more tourists in areas that 10 years ago didn't have as many.

[Jonesy55]

I generally hate shopping at Ikea, but we do have some stuff from there, including our kitchen.

[maru2501]

Originally Posted by McBane

The entire premise of this article seems off. How can anyone make any correlation between things that happen in Manhattan and the rest of America? NYC and Manhattan in particular are outliers, even amongst other large cities.

wrongo..

NYC is an outlier in the way that it is the most pure form of this phenomenon because of its wealth. Property owners will push a mom and pop out and sit on the property because they can afford to wait until chipotle comes knocking.

But corporatism vs. quirk is in evidence in other places that experienced millennials (and others) returning to city life vs. suburbs. The california city people on here can speak for themselves. In Chicago we have seen the wealthy corporate chains basically chase gentrification around the city. Quirky neighborhoods get cool and the rents go up and the first starbucks appears and over and over it goes.

at least Jeremiah Moss speaks up for locally owned business people

[Steely Dan]

according to this article, after the manhattan store, ikea is looking to open urban downtown stores in LA, san francisco, chicago, and DC next, with an eventual plan for 30 such stores globally in the next two years.

http://www.citylab.com/life/2018/12/...uburbs/576952/

[dc_denizen]

I went to an urban IKEA in Singapore 20 years ago

They act like building in a city is something new

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

ikea is looking to open urban downtown stores in LA, san francisco, chicago, and DC next

Well I've got the perfect location for them (wonder if I could get a commission): The brand new, never occupied "urban mall" known now as "6x6":




https://www.google.com/search?q=6x6+...Nzy5k5tgdyYiM:

It's got parking (rare in this downtown location), subway and multiple bus line access and lots of foot traffic and it's in an area with lots of current development.

[Hudson11]

On Staten Island, Brick-and-Mortar Retail Bucks the National Trend

New stores are being added island-wide, while other, dated shopping centers are being reconfigured and refurbished. Retail brands new to the borough, like Shake Shack and Land’s End, are being added to the mix to cater to changing tastes.

Stores along commercial drags around the Island that historically defined the borough’s retail scene until the Staten Island Mall opened in the 1970s are also doing well. Lined with one- and two-story retail buildings, streets like New Dorp Lane, Port Richmond Avenue and Forest Avenue in West Brighton have few vacancies and some new construction.