Strike Butchers Retailers’ Holidays

This should be the time to wear extra padding when walking down Broadway in SoHo to withstand the crowds. This should be the time we get bruises on our arms from the elbows of over-anxious girlfriends on the hunt for that gift for ‘maybe-he’s-mister-right’; this should be the time middle-aged men wonder why they left it to the last minute, again; this should be the time that we decide that, despite the lack of personal touch, online shopping is better than standing an hour in line.

But it’s not that time in New York City. Earlier this week, the three day transit strike made it positively a joy to walk and shop Prince and Spring streets. We thought that we were so lucky - a window before the crowds returned post strike.

But the crowds didn’t return. The strike ended yesterday (Thursday) and, of course, we forgot somebody so this morning we dashed back into SoHo to get that last gift. Nervous. But we found the streets were like a street on a Tuesday in April. Yes, there were people out there, but not many. It was very pedestrian - and the stores were positively empty.

The strike seems to have made everyone decide to leave town. We went to the Apple Store on Prince where we finally found a queue for the register. But this was the Apple Store in New York two days before Christmas!!! Shouldn’t the line wrap around the block or something?! As you can see in the photo, even the laptops weren’t being used! Something you never see at an Apple Store.

I think the analysis of the impact on New Yorker’s opinion about their approach to Holiday shopping will be very interesting. Oh, and also: expect huge post holiday sales next week!