The area from 49th to 42nd Streets was ravaged by the recession and scarred by vacancies from retail bankruptcies and bank consolidations.  But that created an opening for an influx of fashion retailers following the lead of the clothing chains H&M and Zara, which ventured onto Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street before the economic downturn.  “When there becomes available a critical mass of retail space in a particular marketplace, you have the opportunity of changing that marketplace,” said Brad Mendelson, executive vice president of the commercial brokerage Cushman & Wakefield’s retail services group. “I think what’s allowed Fifth Avenue to move like it has was the amount of available space that was there.”  While the stretch lost Circuit City, the Bank of New York and at least one discount store, among other businesses, leases have been signed in the past year by the retailers Guess, Filene’s Basement featuring Syms Tailor & Tux, Joe Fresh, Tommy Bahama and Urban Outfitters.  “Almost all the expansion has been fashion,” said Robert K. Futterman, the founder and chief executive of the retail brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates. “This became a shopping district that tenants believed was underserved, and a lot of that was aided by the fact that there were numerous vacancies.”  Mr. Futterman represented Metropolitan Life, which leased 13,000 square feet to Guess at 575 Fifth Avenue, at 47th Street. The bilevel store opened in February.  “We felt that being situated between H&M and Zara, located at 42nd and Fifth, and the luxury shops in the 50s was a prime location that other retailers have started to flock to, since you can’t build up on Fifth Avenue — only down,” said Paul Marciano, the vice chairman and chief executive of Guess.  Mr. Marciano would not say what rent the company was paying. Rents on average along Fifth Avenue south of 49th Street are under $400 a square foot, or about 25 to 30 percent of the rents in the high-fashion shopping district along Fifth Avenue in the 50s, Mr. Futterman said.  “A lot of companies come and look, and they want to be on Fifth Avenue above 49th, up to 57th Street, but they get sticker shock,” he said.  At the same time, businesses still receive heavy foot traffic along Fifth Avenue south of 49th Street, Mr. Futterman said. That was another important factor for Guess.  “We looked at spaces in both the 40s and the 50s,” Mr. Marciano said. “After studying traffic, we were confident that 575 Fifth Avenue would be a success, and that other retailers would follow.”  Part of the problem with Fifth Avenue south of 49th Street in the past has been that tourist traffic often largely stopped at Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Mr. Mendelson said.  “Tourists produce higher annual sales,” he said, pointing to the Apple store at 767 Fifth Avenue near 59th Street, which reportedly earns more than $400 million a year in revenue, and Abercrombie & Fitch at 720 Fifth Avenue and 56th Street, with a sales volume of about $120 million annually.  But many tourists, even those headed south from Rockefeller Center to one of the city’s largest tourist attractions, the Empire State Building at 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue, would choose some form of transportation as opposed to walking almost 10 blocks, Mr. Mendelson said.  “It’s a long walk, especially in winter,” he said.  The retailers now locating along Fifth Avenue in the 40s said they were determined to capture a share of the tourist market, along with business from local residents, office workers and commuters walking to and from Grand Central Station.  The Filene’s Basement featuring Syms Tailor & Tux, at 530 Fifth Avenue at 43rd Street, which will open in August, hopes to attract tourists all week long, said Davia Temin, a spokeswoman for Syms Corporation. Before it merged with Filene’s Basement, Syms stores, including one at 400 Park Avenue, at 54th Street, appealed largely to professionals.  “We expect to attract a weekend customer, who never really materialized at 54th Street and Park Avenue,” Ms. Temin said.  Leasing along Fifth Avenue in the 40s has been so fast and furious that there is little retail space remaining, brokers said.  Vornado Realty Trust, which converted the Modernist glass box that formerly housed a bank at 510 Fifth Avenue at 43rd Street into retail space, has leased about 15,000 square feet to Joe Fresh, a popular Canadian clothing and cosmetics brand.  Some space may be available in that building, Mr. Mendelson said.  Vornado did not respond to a request for comment.  “There’s been quite a bit of absorption, and there’s not a lot available now,” Mr. Futterman said.  Joe Fresh has plans to remodel the interior of the landmarked building at 510 Fifth Avenue and open its first American store in the fall, said Lucy van der Wal, a senior vice president of the retailer.  The influx of “affordable luxury brands” like Joe Fresh, Urban Outfitters and Guess will probably attract a younger, more contemporary consumer to Fifth Avenue in the 40s, said Laura Pomerantz, a principal with the boutique commercial brokerage PBS Real Estate.  While Mr. Mendelson said it was too early to tell whether more youthful shoppers would find the area, he said the addition of international retailers like Botticelli, H&M, Joe Fresh and Zara would draw a larger pool of shoppers and perhaps a more sophisticated buyer.  “I think the national retailers are happy to see the international retailers mix it up with them, because they will attract a different clientele than, say, an Urban Outfitters would,” he said.
Ravaged by the recession, the shopping area on Fifth Avenue from 42nd to 49th Streets has rebounded with the arrival of a number of âaffordable luxuryâ fashion outlets.