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DESPITE DIFFICULT TIMES for luxury retailers, 80% of the retail space in the AOL Time Warner Center is leased, and upscale fashion tenants are snatching up the remaining stores.
Sisley, Benetton Kids and Clio Blue are the latest merchants to sign deals for locations in the complex's 364,000-square-foot retail gallery.
They will join apparel stores Joseph Abboud, Cole Haan, Hugo Boss, A/X Armani Exchange, J. Crew and Eileen Fisher. Men's accessories company J.W. Cooper, upscale sunglasses retailer Solstice and chocolatier Godiva have also signed leases at the Columbus Cir cle project.
Leasing had slowed at the center after Sept. 11, reflecting larger trends in Manhattan. But upscale retailers now seem to believe the opportunities that come with being in such a prominent building outweigh the risks.
As many as 25 million people a year will visit the center, shopping in the stores and eating at the upscale restaurants, according to Mitchell Friedel, senior vice...