Little luxuries: Beige Book indicates the New York City market is seeing signs of increased stability

Moving into the final stages of third quarter 2009, we are witnessing dramatic shifts in shopping patterns. As declared in the most recent Beige Book analyses, New York City is showing increasing signs of stabilizing. More importantly, retailers reported sales were steady in June and early July. The biggest trend just may be the increase in demand for smaller items. Home décor and furnishings, jewelry and accessories are clearly outpacing the demand for big buy items, such as appliances and cars. Quoting cosmetics magnate Leonard Lauder, market research leader Unity Marketing goes as far as calling the trend the "lipstick effect," to identify women shoppers' spending habits in times of economic uncertainty. Evidently, we tend to splurge on smaller luxuries, such as cosmetics. In fact, the report pointed out that six out of the top ten fastest growing luxury products in 2008 were beauty products. That may be so, but along with $45 lipsticks and $300 moisturizers, luxury market consumers are still shopping for accessories and jewelry, looking to them to update an existing wardrobe. Banking on these consumer habits, deluxe Swiss timepiece brand F.P. Journe is taking over the former Graff jewelry store at 721 Madison Ave., its first New York location. Henri Bendel has opened a shop-in-shop for the crème de la crème of costume jewelry Miriam Haskell. On Fifth Ave. at 55th St., Swarovski is moving into the space that once housed Sergio Rossi. In addition, Christopher Fischer Cashmere is opening a second store, this time on the Upper East Side at 1225 Madison Ave.. Evathia Rajwans' Duchesse will soon be displaying her wonderful clothing and accessories at 1138 Third Ave. All of these luxury retailers and brands have flourished for decades by understanding the needs and habits of their core buyers. It is not surprising that they have opted to open new stores at this time. The collective satisfaction found in smaller purchases can also be identified by the wave of shoe stores opening throughout Manhattan, starting with the Shoe Woo flagship opening in a few weeks at 750 Lexington Ave. Glamour brand Stuart Weitzman is opening next door to Barney's Coop on Broadway, between 75th and 76th Sts. and Barcelona-based Camper has taken the DiModolo space on the corner of 59th St. and Madison Ave. Stubbs & Wootton has opened a store in the Carlyle Hotel after outgrowing its Lexington Ave. location. On the homefront are new destinations in which to find tony home accessories, such as the new Gracious Home Annex at 45 West 25th St., down the street from its Flatiron store, which opened last winter. Antique furnishings dealer extraordinaire, Debra Buck is moving Buck House into a new and expanded space at 1318 Madison Ave. Television star and design guru Jonathan Adler expanded his home furnishings empire earlier this summer with a new location in Boerum Hill. Wine is the New Coffee For the past year, the trend in restaurants has circled round to mid-priced gourmet destinations. But now some of the biggest names in the industry are opening more modest ones in the form of wine bars. In the old Docks restaurant space at 2427 Broadway, Accademia di Vino is scheduled to open a deluxe paean to the Italian grape in October. It was recently reported that celebrity chef Bill Telepan is contemplating opening a wine bar at 185 Columbus Ave., around the corner from his popular eponymous restaurant. Brooklyn is all abuzz with the comfortable chic Brooklyn Heights Wine on Cranberry and Henry Sts. Not quite wine, but relatively close in spirit is Bia Garden at 154 Orchard St., where the New York Times reports beer "is served by the 6-pack, 12-pack or case." Bia, by the way, is Vietnamese for beer. Of course, coffee is still the New York beverage of choice and Nespresso, which continues to draw crowds to its Madison Ave.shop, has opened a boutique in Bloomingdale's Soho and will soon have another at 92 Prince St. Another dainty luxury scheduled for the West Village by way of Florence, Italy is Il Cantuccio bakery, which will open at 91 Christopher St., at Bleecker St. Whether small or large, luxury is as much a state of mind as it is a boon to the economy. So as we approach the next quarter armed with optimistic economic indicators, the focus will be on the consumer's ability to enjoy the attainable. Every little luxury, whether it's a dark chocolate truffle or eye candy from Cartier, offers emotional satisfaction. In New York, we are seeing a stalwart group of luxury retailers and brands entering the market with confidence and grit. Faith Hope Consolo is the chairman, Retail Leasing, Marketing and Sales Division, Prudential Douglas Elliman