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06.11.09

In Manhattan, during this bleak-is-the-new-black economy, buyer’s remorse has morphed into an entirely different kind of guilt.

“I feel bad, like I am taking advantage. But what are you going to do?,” a dressed-down New Yorker said as she grabbed two bags of Sumatra coffee at Balducci’s, the gourmet food store that shuttered its Chelsea and Lincoln Center outposts last spring. “The coffee’s 50 percent off. You should get some.”

Shoppers, don’t apologize. This is your New York minute. Finally, fabulousness is affordable.

Though New York ranks as one of the best shopping cities in the world — visitors in 2007 spent $5.7 billion on shopping, more than on entertainment, according to NYC & Co., the official tourism office — its stores have been equally bruised by the economic downturn.

“It is a very challenging environment for all retailers,” said National Retail Federation spokeswoman Kathy Grannis.

Source: Providence Journal