Nordstrom is angling to open one of its off-price Rack stores on Midtown’s Fifth Avenue, The Post has learned.
The Seattle-based department-store chain — which already has announced it will open a Nordstrom Rack in Union Square this spring — is in talks to lease 521 Fifth Ave., a retail space at 43rd Street that was vacated last year by now-defunct Circuit City.
“We are looking at that site, along with others, about the potential for a second Rack store in New York,” Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White told The Post.
White cautioned that Nordstrom is “not even close” to inking a lease for 521 Fifth Ave., adding that the retailer is also scouting other nearby locations for its fast-growing chain of outlet stores.
Still, New York real estate experts said the proposed Midtown location is a good fit for Nordstrom’s off-price format, and could help establish the lower 40s on Fifth Avenue as a shopping Mecca for working girls. H&M and Zara, the Europe-based budget fashion giants, have already opened stores at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
“It would be a wonderful use for the area, as that section of Fifth Avenue has really developed into a mid-market fashion area,” said Alan Victor, president of retail brokerage firm Lansco.
Meanwhile, sources said Nordstrom is tabling its long-held ambitions to open a full-price store in Manhattan, after taking hard looks at upscale addresses including the Drake Hotel at Park Avenue and 56th Street.
“We still would like to have a Nordstrom store [in Manhattan] someday,” White said.
With the recession sapping demand for pricey clothes and handbags, Nordstrom has announced it will add 16 new Rack stores by the end of next year, adding to its current chain of 69. By comparison, it plans to open just nine full-price stores to its chain of 112 over the next two years.
Nordstrom isn’t the only upscale retailer that’s shifting its focus downmarket.
Neiman Marcus sees room to add as many as 40 off-price Last Call stores to its current chain of 23, sources said. The Dallas-based luxury retailer, which also owns Bergdorf Goodman, plans to focus on standalone locations instead of anchor spots at outlet malls.
The Fifth Avenue parcel being eyed by Nordstrom spans less than 16,000 square feet — about half the size of the upcoming Rack store in Union Square, which will occupy the basement of the former Virgin Megastore.
Still, Nordstrom’s arrival would revitalize the strip, said Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“Between Saks and Lord & Taylor, Fifth Avenue is a no man’s land,” she said. james.covert@nypost.com