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NYC Shoppers Shun Madison Avenue as Swanky Boutiques Depart

  • Space availability is highest among Manhattan’s retail hubs
  • Soho, by contrast, seeing more foot traffic than before Covid

Shoppers are scanning Manhattan’s brick-and-mortar stores again, in search of wardrobe upgrades for the return to offices and in-person gatherings. Madison Avenue is one retail hub getting left out of the rebound.

Foot traffic on the stretch of Madison from 57th to 72nd streets was at just 71% of 2019 levels the week of Aug. 8, according to estimates by Orbital Insight. That’s lagging behind Upper Fifth Avenue just a block away, and Soho, which is seeing more shoppers than before the pandemic.