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I'd rank Madison Avenue OVER Fifth Avenue, and of course over Rodeo Drive and Mag Mile. It has many more luxury shops than any of them. However, I believe Fifth/Madison/57th should be considered the same shopping district.
Magnificent Mile is amazing SoHo is also great, but it's just not a cluster of luxury shops like 5th or Madison. Mag Mile is. Same goes for Meatpacking District, where there are a only a few famous luxury shops (Alexander McQueen, Diane Von Fustenberg, Stella McCartney and probably two or three more, but that's it)
The shopping areas in Chicago and SF are completely unimpressive compared to the ones in NYC, NYC has many areas better than Mag Mile for unique/high end and boutique shopping, not just 5th avenue. I'd rank SoHo and Madison Avenue above them as well. There are also endless boutique and independent areas in NoLita, the Village and Meatpacking District that are better than other cities counterpart neighborhood shopping destinations. They make shopping areas in Lincoln Park or Wicker Park/Bucktown look like a joke. NYC even has a "fashion" walk of fame on 7th ave.
NYC has like five times as much downtown retail as the next largest retail city. It also has something crazy like the top 15 retail streets in the U.S. in terms of average rents. Even Brooklyn has a street with higher rents than any other city in the US.
In terms of #2 downtown retail, I would say SF and Chicago are close, but SF has a slight edge. They have more international retailers, their department store flagships are generally bigger and better, and they have higher retail rents and lower retail vacancies. Michigan Ave. has a huge concentration of retail, though.
Magnificent Mile is amazing SoHo is also great, but it's just not a cluster of luxury shops like 5th or Madison. Mag Mile is. Same goes for Meatpacking District, where there are a only a few famous luxury shops (Alexander McQueen, Diane Von Fustenberg, Stella McCartney and probably two or three more, but that's it)
Not true about SoHo.
SoHo probably has more luxury flagships than any neighborhood in the U.S. outside of Madison Ave. Generally speaking, it's where foreign retailers place their first U.S. store. Consequently, it has a TON of flagship stores of foreign luxury brands, many of which have no other U.S. location.
To take some recent examples, SoHo has two Balenciaga flagships, which don't exist anywhere else in the U.S. They also have esoteric brands with flagship stores from unusual locales like Iceland, New Zealand, South Africa and the like. They only have one store in the U.S., and it's in SoHo.
Obviously SoHo has more "mainstream" luxury flagships like Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. too, but that's not what's unique about the neighborhood.
I wasn't saying Meatpacking for example is better than Union Square or Mag Mile, I was saying they beat the neighborhood offerings in those cities also. I'd consider SoHo/5th/Madison areas above them though. I certainly wouldn't consider 5th/madison/57th the "same area"... Just like I wouldn't consider State Street the same area as Michigan Avenue.
honestly shopping is low on my totem poll of things I like, but it's pretty obvious just strolling the streets how much more there is in NYC.
SoHo probably has more luxury flagships than any neighborhood in the U.S. outside of Madison Ave. Generally speaking, it's where foreign retailers place their first U.S. store. Consequently, it has a TON of flagship stores of foreign luxury brands, many of which have no other U.S. location.
To take some recent examples, SoHo has two Balenciaga flagships, which don't exist anywhere else in the U.S. They also have esoteric brands with flagship stores from unusual locales like Iceland, New Zealand, South Africa and the like. They only have one store in the U.S., and it's in SoHo.
Obviously SoHo has more "mainstream" luxury flagships like Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. too, but that's not what's unique about the neighborhood.
That's what disgusting about SoHo! It's nothing more than high end shopping district. It should've remained an art district and with cafe's and restaurants. I just breeze by and or skip it altogether nowadays. what do they have 5th Ave for? I don't want to go to Brooklyn for its arts or little hard to get to Chelsea District.
That's what disgusting about SoHo! It's nothing more than high end shopping district. It should've remained an art district and with cafe's and restaurants. I just breeze by and or skip it altogether nowadays. what do they have 5th Ave for? I don't want to go to Brooklyn for its arts or little hard to get to Chelsea District.
SoHo was never an "arts district with cafes and restaurants". It was an arts district, but there were almost no cafes or restaurants. Now there are tons of cafes and restaurants, but the arts district is West Chelsea.
And SoHo and Fifth Avenue don't heavily overlap with retailers. Generally speaking, the luxury retailers in SoHo are more geared toward younger, fashion-forward folks, and there tend to be more little-known brands, with only one location in the U.S. Of course, there are some retailers common to both, but NYC is a huge retail market, with more than enough room for multiple locations.
Chicago
NYC
San Francisco
Boston
DC
Philadelphia
Seattle
Pittsburgh
Minneapolis
Atlanta
Kind of a strange list, but to each his own. Out of ones you listed my list would be
NYC
Chicago
San Francisco
Philadelphia
Seattle
Boston
DC
Atlanta
Pittsburgh/Minneapolis(no specific order for these two)
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