The rendering above shows what 345 Adams, a government-owned building that's fallen into disrepair of late, could look like after Muss Development has its way with the first two floors of the historic structure. Why is this important? Well, because this space is now being shopped around to big name retailers like Apple, Brooks Brothers, Uniqlo and H&M. That's not to say that those companies have signed (or will sign) leases, of course. Reports The Brooklyn Eagle:
Regarding Apple taking the corner space at Willoughby Street, [broker Robert] Greenstone said, “It’s so right for them it’s not funny.” And he ticked off a half dozen reasons why—from the building’s location across from Borough Hall to its proximity to seven colleges and universities, the area’s four brownstone neighborhoods, the 14 subway lines nearby, the Marriott’s 1,100-car parking garage, not to mention the prominence of the space at a prime corner and the elegance of its interiors. “It’s magical and one of the few spaces anywhere in Brooklyn that has the ability to draw the kind of buyer that Apple wants,” he said.
Yesterday was the official launch day for Target'sGo International Private Collection, a fashion-forward, limited-edition line designed in-house. Either this one was more anticipated than we had realized, or it dropped much earlier than it was supposed to (or both), but by Sunday afternoon the racks at the Atlantic Terminal Mall in Brooklyn were pretty well picked over. Surprising, because the clothing really wasn't good. What we saw was, frankly, awful. This could be chalked up to materials used—some of the silhouettes were nice, and the prints weren't bad, but cheap fabric made many dresses and tops just unwearably tacky. There were a few successful pieces, including a cotton criss-cross dress (warning: it's cut way small), and an ombre stripe top, but on the whole, we weren't terribly impressed with the collection.
What Target did still have a lot of, though, was Loeffler Randall flats—which were released back in December. There were shelves and shelves of them. So if you regretted not scooping a pair up when they first came out, you still have time to do so.
· Photos of Unnamed Target Go Collection Surface [Racked]
Today's Street Scenes subject is Miyuki, shot on the steps of Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. Feel free to vote on whether you like or dislike her outfit—your choices are 'Perfection!,' I feel strangely ambivalent about it,' or 'Who Did This To You.'
Miyuki is wearing a Uniqlo sweater, a thrift-store scarf, Zara pants, Sergio Tacchini sunglasses and a bag from Alter. Her favorite store is the Goodwill near the Fulton Mall.
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN—A Racked informant checks in regarding the Subversive jewelry collection for Target: "Just came from the Brooklyn tgt and they had all the Subversive jewelry on display. I tried on a lot of items, but left empty-handed." [RackedWire Inbox]
NEW YORK CITY—A random, yet useful, tip from a reader: "You know about the leave your driver's license and you can take one of the super carts from bed bath and beyond and do your own delivery and save $15? License returned to you when cart returned to them." We did not know that. [RackedWire Inbox]
Saying that the shopping experience at the Atlantic Terminal Target store is unpleasant is putting it mildly—the place is, quite possibly, the portal to hell. After waking up at the crack of dawn yesterday to travel over there only to find the Jovovich-Hawk collection not yet hanging from the racks, we decided to call this morning to make sure the clothing was there before we made the early morning trek again. After being disconnected four times, we sucked it up and headed there again in the vain hope that the shipment had made it out to the selling floor. Happily, the effort was worth it. And though we had to sneak into the fitting rooms (there weren't any sales associates to be seen), and had to endure the strange rants of one of the cashiers, we ended up walking out with four pieces.
"After years of Brooklyn being snubbed, national names like Apple, JC Penney and Nordstrom are now taking notice, sources say. 'It seems like there's no recession in Brooklyn,' said Dave Cox, owner of the new IHOP, who plans to open in Bed-Stuy, East New York and Williamsburg. Borough President Marty Markowitz welcomes the new restaurants but is red-faced over Brooklyn—with all its tech-savvy dwellers—not already having an Apple store. He said he's negotiating with the computer chain for potential locations in the planned City Point building at Albee Square, the old Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower in Fort Greene, and the lower level of the Municipal Building on Joralemon Street." [NY Post]
NATIONAL—Tomorrow may be the start of Fashion Week, but it's also the in-store debut of the MacBook Air. Via AppleInsider, we hear that the super-slim laptops made a brief appearance on shelves at the Fifth Avenue store today, before staffers yanked them under instruction from Apple corporate. [AppleInsider]
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN—Displaced copy shop alert! A tipster writes: "The copy shop between OTB and 110 Livingston has moved elsewhere. Any idea what will take its place? I’m hoping to see the story on eater.com." We've got no clue, but input is welcome. [RackedWire Inbox]
Today's Street Scenes subjects are Sasha and Anthony, shot in the Court Street subway station in Brooklyn. Feel free to vote on whether you like or dislike their outfits—your choices are 'Perfection!,' I feel strangely ambivalent about them,' or 'Who Did This To You.'
Can you picture Nordstrom opening in downtown Brooklyn? We certainly can not. But the Daily News insists that "department stores are making a huge comeback in downtown Brooklyn, with Target, JCPenney, Kohl's and Nordstrom eying spots in the Fulton Mall..." Target, well, we broke the news of that store coming to Albee Square a month ago. And it's easy to imagine that Kohl's and JCPenney would be interested in the area. But Nordstrom? Just because Marty Markowitz flaps his lips does not make it so; the store will most definitely open its first NYC outpost in Manhattan. The paper does have more info on the Target, though, stating that it is slated to open sometime in 2011 after "construction is completed at the 132,000-square-foot City Point building" and that it will be less than a mile from the Target at Atlantic Center.
· Target signs deal to open a store at City Point [NY Daily News]
· Exclusive: Another Target Planned For Brooklyn [Racked]
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