Barney's Looking for Co-op Space in Cobble Hill
The first thing we thought about when we read the opening paragraph of yesterday’s Crain’s article dropping the big news that Barney’s was eyeing Cobble Hill for its first Brooklyn location of the Barney’s Co-Op was the new Two Trees rental building at 200 Atlantic Avenue. And then, sure enough, further down in the piece:…
The first thing we thought about when we read the opening paragraph of yesterday’s Crain’s article dropping the big news that Barney’s was eyeing Cobble Hill for its first Brooklyn location of the Barney’s Co-Op was the new Two Trees rental building at 200 Atlantic Avenue. And then, sure enough, further down in the piece: “The company would not provide details, but real estate insiders speculate that Barneys will take space on Atlantic Avenue, the thoroughfare that is already home to upscale clothier Steven Alan and home decorator Jonathan Adler.” The retail space at 200 Atlantic would make perfect sense, in our humble opinion. Or maybe they’ll take over the lease from Urban Outfitters, which clearly ain’t working out too well.
Making Book on Barneys [Crain’s]
Ditmas…the what if there was no Manhattan isn’t a valid argument, since it exists. It’s there, Brooklyn is here and it’s got 2.4 million people who are just getting used to the fact that they can shop closer to home instead of going to Manhattan if stores choose to open up here.
I don’t see the point you are making. Target Brooklyn is the highest grossing Target in the country, Trader Joe’s Brooklyn is one of the top 3 grossing Trader Joe’s in the U.S., TJmaxx in Brooklyn is one of the highest grossing in the country…
I think all of this points to the fact that Brooklnites are hungry for retailing of their own, and businesses now seem to be catching onto that idea.
I totally agree that Brooklyn should have better shopping otions. Fulton mall is thriving but not exactly a sophisticated thoroughfare of world class shops.
When all is said and done it is impossible for an affluent Brooklynite not to take advantage of the amazing selection and quality of merchandise right across the river. It is all too nearby to ignore. People fly in from all over the world to shop in Manhattan.
> Why is that a weird argument?
Because if there were no Manhattan, Brooklyn would be a small city, if it would in fact exist at all. It serves, and likely always will serve, a secondary function.
If business want to open more shopping, great, fantastic, do it. Just don’t be surprised if they opt to do so in Manhattan rather than in the outer boroughs.
After all, all of the boroughs flow into Manhattan via mass transit. Opening in Brooklyn dramatically decreases the pool of likely customers for any given store.
Why is that a weird argument? Brooklyn was an independent city until 1898 when it became a part of NYC.
Baltimore has 636,000 people, so not really a good comparison to Brooklyn with 2.4 million. Brooklyn is more like Chicago or Philadelphia than it is, Baltimore.
Brooklyn is the second most densely populated county in the county (after Manhattan).
My point is that if Houston, Washington, Baltimore, Seattle, Phoenix, Philadelphia….(all places with smaller populations than Brooklyn) have their own stores, then why shouldn’t they have them here?
There is a tremendous concentration of people, and it’s an opportunity for businesses.
> if Brooklyn were on its own, it would be the 4th largest
> city in the country after NY, LA and Chicago.
I find this a weird argument. If there were no Manhattan, Brooklyn would be Baltimore.
Speak on it! The “frownstoners” are hating on something they know nothing about…once again.
Bessie:
You are so right. II find it stupid when people say that Brooklyn shouldn’t have any high end shopping and that they should go to Manhattan. First of all, if there are high end shoppers in Brooklyn, why shouldn’t the stores come to the shoppers…? That would only make good financial sense, and it appears some are catching on.
Secondly, if Brooklyn were on its own, it would be the 4th largest city in the country after NY, LA and Chicago…we’ve been severely under-retailed for quite some time, and it only makes good sense that retail in the borough would increase to cater to the huge 2.4 million people here.
Manhattan is literally becoming a place for many Brooklynites to go to work and that’s it. More and more, Brooklyn is becoming its own destination for eating, shopping, drinking and cultural goings on. 10 years ago, people used to go to Manhattan to do everything and that is shifting in a major way, from what I can tell.
If I didn’t work there, I’d rarely go to Manhattan. I think it’s rather lame, to be honest.
Well that’s nice…now http://www.racked.com has picked up Mr. B’s rumor that Urban Outfitters in Brooklyn is going to close and written a whole thing about it.
Is this our way of supporting Brooklyn…?
http://racked.com/archives/2009/12/08/storecasting_could_a_brooklyn_barneys_replace_urban_outfitters.php
Yay…Love it!