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Indomitable Tweety Bird met his match on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.
Low-budget key chains bearing the familiar cartoon character were a bust, along with other merchandise at the Warner Bros. store. Shoppers let it be known: Mass merchandise just doesn't cut it in this part of the world.
Starting next month, customers instead will be able to buy a $30,000 diamond- encrusted apple charm at the new Louis Vuitton store on the same corner. The French luxury company's global flagship, at 1 E. 57th St., is set in an attention-getting sheer glass tower, which screams, "Luxury is back."
Only a decade ago, mass merchants such as Levi's, Swatch and Warner Bros. invaded the area, democratizing this former bastion of expensive exclusivity. Retail-watchers feared that the center of Manhattan's luxury shopping district was losing its cachet.
They need not have worried. Many of the mid-market cousins have already fled, and Swatch will close its East 57th Street store by the end of next month. Retail aristocrats such as Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton are taking their place, convinced that the neighborhood offers them a chance...