In the retail crisis, the shutters are coming down even in New York

Visitors to Manhattan are finding that several retail landmarks are fading fast

There is a lot to do in Manhattan - but shopping? Maybe not so much these days. Once one of the hottest markets on the planet, New York's retail sector is suffering.

Surveying the empty storefronts on Fifth Avenue, holidaymaker Gill Stewart, from Stokesley in Yorkshire, said she was surprised by the number of vacancies. "We've come across a few places that are empty or under refurbishment, certainly many more than we expected," she said. As the family wondered which direction to go in, Stewart noted that her teenage children, Nathan and Eleanor, weren't even clamouring to visit the shops.

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