New York Was a Shopping Town. Is It Again?

In recent years, the combination of uptown bankruptcies (Barneys) and downtown closures (Opening Ceremony) has challenged New York’s reputation as a shopping city. That was followed by the challenges brought to retailers by the pandemic, which precipitated the shuttering of a string of medium-size multibrand boutiques like Totokaelo, Jeffrey and Bird in quick succession.

There are signs this may finally be shifting, with some buzzy store openings that telegraph a message to fashion-hungry New Yorkers: We are so back.

All of this is a welcome — hopeful, even — rebound for a city that has long been known as America’s pre-eminent shopping destination. But, why, exactly, is a new generation of retailers diving head first into brick-and-mortar businesses when all the signs — mass retail closures, a wobbly luxury market — advise otherwise?

“The idea was that I wanted a local, neighborhood shop,” said Chris Green, formerly a merchandiser at Totokaelo who opened the men’s wear store Ven Space in Brooklyn. The store carries an assortment of elegant mainstays (Dries Van Noten, the Row, Lemaire) and items from lesser-known brands (Auralee, Still by Hand, Rier).

“Like, on Sunday they can stroll the farmers’ market, get their thing done, have their kids at the park and pick up a sweatshirt or an outerwear piece,” said Mr. Green, who lives only a few blocks away from the store, about the appeal of a store serving a pocket of brownstones. “With these smaller boutiques, I love that they’re individual-owned, and you get the point of view of the owner.”