On Purchase Street in Rye”™s central business district, a row of empty storefronts in a vacant building stands out against a midday swarm of strolling shoppers and restaurant diners. Across the street stand two more empty stores. One was vacated in April by the women”™s shoes and fashion accessories chain Plaza Too, a 23-year tenant in Rye that has closed several stores in Westchester and Fairfield County, Conn.
The vacancies in affluent Rye might be just another sign of the economic times and widely shared struggles by retailers to stay in business through a decline in consumer spending. For some Rye residents and merchants, the prominent vacancies are cause for concern. Others, though, say the tenant departures are not unusual in an ever-changing business district and Rye”™s retail center has fared better in the recession than some of its affluent neighbors on Long Island Sound.
”˜In the same boat”™
“It”™s not uncommon for the economy,” Sally Wright, development director at the Rye YMCA and spokesperson for the 123-member Rye Chamber of Commerce, said of the half-dozen vacancies at the south end of the Purchase Street district. “Actually we feel pretty fortunate compared to Greenwich and Larchmont.”
Still, the vacancies have “alarmed” some chamber members, she said. “Merchants themselves are struggling,” she said. “The little guys are struggling. There”™s a lot of grumbling ”¦We try to talk to the other retailers and tell them to hang in and think out of the box.”
Purchase Street “has had its highs and lows over the years,” said Catherine Parker, owner of Parkers, a travel and lifestyle shop in business for 14 years at 43 Purchase St. Parker currently is the only local business owner serving on the Rye City Council.
In late 2001 and 2002, retail here saw “a little bit of a hiccup” after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, she said. And after the Wall Street financial crash in October 2008, Parker said she “felt like I needed a psychiatrist”™s couch” for use by rattled customers in a city where many households have depended on incomes from Wall Street and financial services. “People were so paralyzed by guilt and fear,” she said.
“Compared to other towns in Westchester or Fairfield, we”™re pretty much all in the same boat,” said Parker. “Everyone has experienced a decline in retail in this economy.”
Along Purchase Street, merchants have reported better first-quarter sales this year than last. “That”™s a good sign,” Parker said.
A good mix
Despite the vacancies, retailers recently have opened in a district that has what Parker called a good mix of chain stores and local businesses. San Francisco-based Benefit Cosmetics in late April opened its second East Coast shop and one of only 14 boutiques nationwide at 44 Purchase St. Lululemon Athletica, a fast-growing yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, recently opened a second-floor showroom at 14 Elm Place in the business district.
Some merchants were said to be upset when two pop-up stores opened for the holiday season in the vacant Purchase Street building owned by Jonathan Rose Cos. of Katonah. One, a Toys ”˜R Us Holiday Express store, opened in a former branch office of the failed Washington Mutual Bank and next door to a direct competitor, a recently opened Learning Express toy store.
At The Saunders Co. in Rye, broker David Saunders is marketing for Rose four vacant stores that total about 10,200 square feet. One of the larger spaces has sat empty for about four years since the parent company of the previous tenant, a Sam Goody record store, filed for bankruptcy. Saunders said he is waiting for an undisclosed tenant to sign a lease for a 1,316-square-foot store at 22 Purchase St.
Saunders said asking rents for the Purchase Street locations range from $45 to $55 per square foot. That is well below the rents that Purchase Street landlords could command about two years ago, when, he said, “We did several deals at $75 (per square foot.)
“The recession hurt everywhere. Rents in Greenwich have decreased from $150 to $85. It”™s not just Rye, it”™s anywhere,” he said.
“Things are picking up slowly but surely,” Saunders added. “There”™s a lot more action. I”™m showing the stores a lot more” to prospective tenants.
”˜A nightmare”™
For retailers, “Rye is a tough town,” said Patrick Corcoran, owner of Arcade Book Sellers Inc. at 15 Purchase St. In business for 28 years in Rye, Corcoran said his 500-square-foot shop did not become profitable until three other independent booksellers closed in the city and only his remained. He moved his business across Purchase Street 18 years ago from the currently vacant building when the landlord tripled his rent, Corcoran said, and he endured “a nightmare” of arbitration.
“There are way too many vacancies right now,” Corcoran said. “The landlords are asking too much money for rent, so you”™ve got to sell a lot of product to pay your rent.” The spike in rents here started about 20 years ago, he said.
At Wine At Five, owner Cai J. Palmer, said the business he opened in 2006 at 4 Purchase St. after a long career as a Wall Street commodity asset manager and metals trader does very well, despite Rye”™s high rents and high taxes.
Palmer said retail rents on Purchase Street typically range from $55 to $75 per square foot. “It”™s outrageous,” he said. Combined with taxes, “It makes it very difficult to make a living.”
Still, “It”™s no different from any other town with the same demographic,” Palmer said. “You”™re still going to pay that rent. Parking is still going to be a nightmare. Rent is going to be a nightmare.”
On Purchase Street, Wright, the chamber of commerce spokeswoman, has seen signs of a break in the gloom for retailers this spring. “I think everyone feels now that the economy is starting to pick up a little bit and everyone”™s got their fingers crossed,” she said.
