After Sandy: Real estate and retail communities working hard and raising funds to help rebuild

Firstly, I hope this article is being read after a happy and healthy Thanksgiving that saw all of you safe and sound in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. If so, please continue to support organizations that are helping those of our friends and neighbors who were not as fortunate. More than one person has asked me how Sandy will continue to affect retail and real estate downtown and around the metro area, and the easy answer is that it is too soon to tell. As I write this in mid-November, some retailers downtown remain closed as they deal with flooding and other damage. We don't know if, or how, work on the retail at the World Trade Center and World Financial Center is delayed. Uptown, business is back to normal, and I anticipate the usual holiday crush. The unseasonably warm weather did depress sales in August and September, though tourism had remained strong, according to the Federal Reserve Beige Book. Sandy, of course, interrupted what was a healthy Halloween retail season, and could affect the types of merchandise to be purchased over the holidays. I expect the Northeast sales to reflect much more practical gifts (except, of course, toys for the kids) - small appliances, home goods, practical clothing as insurance checks come in, and shoppers take advantage of holiday promotions to replace what was lost. I'm sticking by my predictions of a 4% to 5% increase nationwide for the holidays. Mid-term, New York always bounces back from disaster. For example, Tommy Bahama may have postponed its grand opening for a period to be sensitive to local feelings, but it did open. The real estate and retail communities are working hard and raising funds to help rebuild our damaged neighborhoods. We survive, and then we thrive. Dealmaking and store openings continue even as the year draws to a close. Boho chic grows in Brooklyn at designer Swati Argade's first shop, Bhoomki, at 158 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope. Civilianaire brings denim to a former bodega at 55 East Houston. Think of it as a mini-boutique - Robin Weiss' Welcome Shoppe offers apparel, accessories and home goods in just 80 s/f at 36 East 11th St.! And best of all to raise our spirits - the Union Square Holiday Market opened on Nov. 16, and the Columbus Circle one was not far behind. There is still time to register for International Council of Shopping Centers' (ICSC) Women's Special Industry Group (SIG) program, to be held in conjunction with the association's New York National Conference, December 3 and 4 at the New York Hilton and Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers. In my role as Women's SIG chairman, I will moderate "Food as Fashion: Redefining Dining," a panel featuring leaders from major restaurant chains, to be held Monday, December 3 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Mercury Ballroom at the Hilton. Joining me will be: Doug Griebel, founder and chairman of Rosa Mexicano Group; Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack Inc., and more to be announced. I promise it will be a fascinating and spicy discussion! Attendance is included in your conference registration, so please visit http://www.icsc.org/apps/meeting_display.php?meeting=2012EDM for more information and to register. The members and friends of NYCREW are looking forward to our grand year-end celebration, to be held on the most memorable date this year - December 12, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Columbus Club, 8 East 69th St. We're looking forward to NYCREW's 12th year (sense a pattern here?) with our annual awards ceremony, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and the company of some of the most successful women and men in the business. To register, visit https://www.registrationfactory.com/v3/default.cfm?EventUUID=97C827B6. Happy holidays and happy shopping! Faith Hope Consolo is the chairman of The Retail Group at Prudential Douglas Elliman, Manhattan, N.Y.