Is The Gap/Old Navy falling into Toys R Us?

Will sister stores Gap and Old Navy divide up the huge 110,000 s/f space that Toys R Us is vacating at 1514 Broadway? That's the rumor, published reports say. In a way, this will be a case of "Back to the Future," as Gap looked at that space more than 15 years ago, long before Times Sq. became the retail powerhouse it is today. Now, if this comes to pass, Gap will be the comeback story at the location, as it attempts to rebound from some tough years as it faced competition from fast fashion giants and lost a bit of focus. Still, there have been success stories at the American classic - Athleta is nicely positioned as a more affordable alternative to Lululemon, and a new CEO is looking to revitalize Gap and Old Navy. This would be a huge statement for Gap - and a huge cost, given ground floor rents of $2,500 per s/f. It will be interesting to see what happens here. In the meantime, other retailers are staking their own claim to New York City real estate. At press time, Apple's Upper East Side store at 940 Madison Ave. reported was to open on June 13th. Aritzia plans a fall opening at its Flatiron store, 89 Fifth Ave. Also coming this fall: another Muji to 475 Fifth Ave. in October. J. Jill will make its New York City debut at 160 Columbus Ave. Look for contemporary and mid 20th Century furniture at the recently opened Calliope (349 West 12th St.) And the beauty explosion continues, with Los Angeles' Blushington store and salon will cross to the right coast this summer in Midtown, the first of 10 locations planned for the city! We're just getting announcements of those retailers opening in the Hamptons for the season, including Velvet by Graham & Spencer, offering casual clothing on Jobs Lane in Southampton (and also opening on Madison Ave. momentarily). Summertime doesn't mean a slowing calendar, either. There's still plenty of time to register for ICSC's Next Generation National Conference, being held July 26th to 28th at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami, where I'll moderate a Women's Special Industry Group panel on "Picking Your Path to Success." To be held on Tuesday, July 28th, from 12:15 to 2 p.m., the session will be a discussion of career paths and industry trends with Holly Cohen, vice president, global DTC retail real estate and store construction of Nike, and Pauldine France, director of leasing of Thor Equities - and perhaps more! Even better, local members of CREW Network who are not registered for the full conference will be able to attend this luncheon for a nominal fee. The Next Generation program was launched by ICSC more than a decade ago to help newcomers to the industry build their knowledge base and relationships - and has succeeded so well that its participants have now become leaders in their own right. At the same conference, I'm also honored to join industry luminaries including R. Webber Hudson of Related Cos. in offering an Executive Board Room Session on my own career path and how others can succeed in this ever-changing industry from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on July 28th. For more information on the SIG and the conference, visit www.icsc.org. Happy Shopping! Faith Hope Consolo is the chairman of the retail group at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, New York, N.Y.