Mayor Bloomberg said in 2003 that “if New York City is a business, it isn’t Wal-Mart. It isn’t trying to be the lowest-priced product in the market. It’s a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product.”
If so, then the latest figures on luxury spending don’t bode well for consumers’ continued “demand” for New York City in the face of a global economic slowdown.According to the Financial Times, spending at flagship luxury retailers plummeted in September from the same period a year earlier. Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman same-store sales fell 15.8 percent, while Saks Fifth Avenue sales fell 10 percent and Nordstrom sales fell 9.6 percent.
Basic-goods stores, while not unscathed, fared better. Wal-Mart eked out a 2.4 percent same-store sales gain, Target saw sales drop 3 percent, Kohls saw sales drop 5.5 percent, and CostCo saw sales increase 6 percent. (JCPenney was the outlier of middle-market stores, with a 12.4 percent decline.)
“US consumers continued to seek out low cost discounters and to focus on shopping for basics … amid the growing financial turmoil,” the article determined.
As people of all incomes cut back sharply on luxuries, being a “luxury city” may not be such a good business plan.
Just as ominous for New York, Reuters notes that in America in general, “the rising U.S. dollar curbed spending by foreign tourists.” Over the past two years, as the dollar has sunk, New York has grown accustomed to selling foreign tourists lots of silly throwaway items at cheap prices for them, like bright green foam Statue-of-Liberty hats and $800,000 studio apartments.
You may also like
At mid-year, NY still far below most states in pandemic jobs recovery
New York has added private-sector jobs in all but three of the 38 months since the COVID-19 outbreak of March 2020—but the Empire State remains below its pre-pandemic employment level and continues to trail the national recovery.
On a seasonally adju Read More
New York’s pricey hospitals draw pushback from labor
A City Council hearing in Manhattan on Thursday promises a rare scene in New York politics: hospitals playing defense. The council is debating whether to establish a watchdog agency focused on the high price of hospital care in New York, with a goal of helping the city and other employers contain the rapidly rising cost of health benefits for workers. Read More
At end of ’22, NY still near bottom in pandemic recovery
The more time passes since the spring 2020 Covid-19 outbreak, the more New York stands out among all states for the weakness of its post-pandemic employment recovery.
As of December, seasonally adjusted private employment in New York was still nearly 2 Read More
On College Readiness, Comptroller Asks Wrong Question, Delivers Flawed Answer
Graduation rates are rising while standards for graduation are falling. It begs the question: What number of graduating students are college ready? Read More
A Look at Covid Learning Loss in NYC
New York City set an example worthy of approbation and emulation by publishing their grade 3-8 test results in math and English language arts. Read More
Judge, Jury and … CFO?
A state court judge at a hearing this morning will consider whether to interfere with New York City authority over its own budget by ordering a preliminary injunction that ices a portion of Gotham’s recently enacted FY 23 city budget. Read More
NY’s jobs recovery now strongest downstate
The Empire State's private-sector employment gains over the past year have been increasingly concentrated in New York City. Read More
In Albany This Week, First Do No Harm
It's last call in Albany.
T Read More